Micrel Takes Ethernet Fiber to the Power of Five

SAN JOSE, California, May 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- Introduction of KSZ8995FQ Brings New Low Cost, Fiber Mode Ethernet 
Solution To Market

Micrel Inc., (Nasdaq: MCRL), an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth
communications and Ethernet IC solutions, today launched the KSZ8995FQ,
Micrel's latest member of the 5-port switch family. The new solution enables
users to successfully build loop applications by using two fiber ports 3 and
4 to cascade together a ring, while still utilizing the MII interface on port
5 to the CPU/Host. The highly versatile device is ideal for Industrial
Ethernet, Managed Media converters, and FTTx customer premise equipment in
the Telecommunications and Enterprise markets. The device is offered in a
compact, cost effective 128-pin PQFP package. Please contact Micrel directly
for pricing.

"Since 1999, the industry has shipped more than 250 million ports, making
Ethernet one of Micrel's more lucrative and growing technologies," noted
Richard Bowers, Micrel's director of marketing for Ethernet. "Micrel brings
the power of five to Ethernet with its latest 5-port switch solution that
gives designers more versatility, lower cost and the addition of fiber mode."

The KSZ8995FQ also offers a highly integrated Layer 2 managed switch
solution with optimized bill of materials (BOM) cost for low port count,
cost-sensitive 10/100Mbps switch systems. It provides an extensive
feature set such as tag/port-based VLAN, quality of service (QoS) priority,
management, MIB counters, dual MII interfaces and CPU control/data interfaces
to effectively address both current and emerging fast Ethernet applications.
The KSZ8995FQ contains five 10/100 transceivers with patented mixed-signal
low-power technology, five media access control (MAC) units, a high-speed
non-blocking switch fabric, a dedicated address look-up engine, and an
on-chip frame buffer memory.

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.

Web site: http://www.micrel.com