Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc.

Fujitsu Microelectronics' High-Density Digital Chips Lead Success of TRW's Astrolink Payload

San Jose, CA, May 29, 2001 — A set of extremely high-density ASICs designed by TRW (NYSE: TRW) and fabricated by Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. (FMI) for TRW's new Astrolink global broadband communications system has completed flight production tests, a major step in meeting Astrolink hardware milestones. TRW will provide the Astrolink payload to Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, the prime contractor for the Astrolink Space segment.

The ASICs used in the Astrolink on-board processor were designed by TRW and fabricated by Fujitsu in just 19 months. The processor is comprised of a bank of digital demodulators and an ATM router. Each demodulator ASIC contains all the processing required to flexibly channelize, demodulate, decode and synchronize all 175 broadband channels with a beam, the system equivalent of a cable modem or DSL hub. To accomplish this, the channelizer/demodulator ASIC performs 34 giga-operations per second.

The ATM router is comprised of eight ASIC designs, ranging between 100,000 to greater than five million gates, which complete all data-processing functions, such as switching, routing and flow control. The largest of the eight ASICs has a total of 5.5 million gates, which is the equivalent of 18 million transistors, according to Keith Horn, director of Systems Solutions marketing at Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc.

"Astrolink is the industry's most exciting space-based broadband satellite system," Horn said. "The ASICs we have developed with the TRW team are very robust, radiation-tolerant devices of varying complexity. TRW has faced some very rigorous requirements and milestones in the Astrolink program, and our process-design methodology and production capabilities have played a pivotal role in their success."

"These ASIC chips represent a tremendous technical achievement," said Mike McVey, TRW Astrolink Payload program manager. "They have greater data-handling capacity and offer dramatic savings in size, weight and power consumption, making them ideally suited for applications. And development sped along at one-third the time normally required."

Extensive system modeling performed on the ASICs prior to fabrication enabled 100 percent first-pass success. TRW is now completing exhaustive functional testing of the engineering model Astrolink payload, including the fully functional on-board processor.

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About Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc.

Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. (FMI) designs, manufactures and markets a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductors and electronics devices. For product information, please call 1-800-866-8608 or visit the FMI web site at http://www.fma.fujitsu.com/asic/Main01.asp.

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