Micrel Slashes 5 Port Switch-On-a-Chip Power Consumption in Half

SAN JOSE, CA, Jan 17 (MARKET WIRE) --
Micrel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCRL), an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth
communications and LAN solutions, today launched the KSZ8895/8875/8864
series. The devices are low-power, highly integrated, 4/5-port Layer-2
switch-on-a-chip ICs. Leveraging Micrel's latest green physical
transceiver and switch technology, the product family achieves a 50
percent reduction in power consumption compared to the previous
generation. Meeting the increasing demands for Ethernet connectivity in
consumer and industrial applications the family features advanced power
management and sophisticated Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities.
Pricing and samples are available upon inquiry with volume production
starting in Q1, 2011.

"The continuing adoption of Ethernet in the digital home for both content
delivery and interconnection of media devices is driving the demand for
higher port count devices," noted Wiren Perera, Micrel's director of
Ethernet Products. "Micrel's new switch family directly addresses these
needs coupled with energy efficiency enabling compliance to important
green standards such as ENERGY STAR. The flexible configurability of the
family allows the requirements of a variety of applications to be
satisfied based on a single foundation system platform."

Sophisticated QoS features such as tag and port-based VLAN support and
IPv6 priority classification make these devices ideal for today's most
demanding IP content based applications in the digital home; IPTV, IP-STB
(set top box), VoIP (voice over IP), residential gateways and GPON. The
low emissions and Micrel's signature high reliability and quality also
make these devices suitable for connectivity applications in the fast
growing industrial automation and automotive markets.

The devices support a single 3.3V power supply with an internal 1.2V LDO,
with options for 3.3V, 2.5V or 1.8V IO voltages. Further power savings
are supported by advanced power management, including the device's
"Energy Detect Power Down" mode. This mode is activated when the cable is
unplugged, and the "slow oscillator" mode is activated when the device is
not in use.

The product family provides flexible host processor and PHY interfacing
via MII or RMII. Flexibility is also provided in terms of copper or fiber
media interfaces. On-chip termination, and internal generation of the
50MHz RMII clock further reduces bill of materials cost and enables a
small package size (64-pin QFN for KSZ8864RMN).

About Micrel, Inc.
Micrel, Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of IC
solutions for the worldwide analog, Ethernet and high bandwidth markets.
The Company's products include advanced mixed-signal, analog and power
semiconductors; high performance communication, clock management,
Ethernet switch and physical layer transceiver ICs. Company customers
include leading manufacturers of enterprise, consumer, industrial,
mobile, telecommunications, automotive, and computer products.
Corporation headquarters and state-of-the-art wafer fabrication
facilities are located in San Jose, CA, with regional sales and support
offices and advanced technology design centers situated throughout the
Americas, Europe and Asia. In addition, the Company maintains an
extensive network of distributors and reps worldwide. Web:
http://www.micrel.com.

Contact:
Julieanne DiBene
Marketing Communications
1-408-474-1276
Julie.DiBene@Micrel.com

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