DATE:              April 20, 1993
TITLE:             Press Release on Piranha Chip

AT&T'S "PIRANHA" CHIP,LOWEST POWER-CONSUMING DSP KNOWN,
ENABLES PORTABILITY POWERED BY ONLY 2.7V

        BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. -- AT&T Microelectronics today disclosed
that it has been sampling the lowest power-consuming digital
signal processor known, drawing less than one milliampere for
each million instructions per second (MIPs) with true battery
operation at 2.7 volts. The same device is also the
fastest-known DSP in the 5V category, boasting a capacity of 50
MIPs.

        "The DSP1616-x30 PiranhaTM chip offers designers the portable
advantage by combining the highest processing capacity with the
lowest power supply available," said Robert DeRobertis, product
manager-mobile communications signal processors. "For this
reason, it is the DSP of choice for pocket-size cellular
telephones, where squeezing the most talk time out of battery
life is the number one customer concern."

        DeRobertis noted that the new processor includes a programmable
power management feature to turn off unused on-chip peripherals.
"By activating 'sleep modes', standby power can be reduced to
less than 100 microamps, an important factor in prolonging
battery life," he said, noting that a hardware stop pin enables
the designer to place the fully static CMOS device into a deep
sleep state.

        DeRobertis stressed that the Piranha DSP was benchmarked for
global applications from both the hardware and software
perspectives. For example, the identical hardware will support
all cellular standards, including the European standard Global
System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the Japanese Digital
Cellular (JDC) specification, as well as the North American
IS-54 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and proposed Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital standards.

        The Piranha DSP's signal coding efficiency is illustrated
across all standards.  For example, the Vector Sum Excited
Linear Predictive (VSELP) speech coding algorithm used in IS-54
has been reduced to under 17.8 MIPs, requiring less than 48 mA
at 2.7V. The GSM Full Rate Speech Coding processes 4.7 MIPs when
powered by less than 13mA.

        The new DSP illustrates AT&T's commitment to continuously
increase functionality and extend battery life with parts that
are easy to substitute for previous generation devices. The
Piranha chip is the   third generation DSP based on AT&T's fixed
point architecture, dating back to 1988.  Each succeeding
generation has increasingly underscored the family's portable
advantage with lower power requirements, smaller packages and
higher efficiency.  The latest version is a pin-for-pin
replacement for the DSP1616-x10, and is housed in a Thin Quad
Flat Pack (TQFP) package measuring only 196 square millimeters
and standing 1.5 mm high.

        The Piranha chip is object code compatible with the
DSP1616-x10, and, like it's older relative, is optimized for
digital cellular applications.  This includes 12K of ROM, 2K
RAM, two Serial Input Output (SIO) ports. a bit manipulation
unit, a parallel port and BIO.

        In volume of 100K, the ROM-Coded DSP1616-x30 Piranha 3V, 30
MIPs is available at $39 for the TQFP package.

        For product literature, call the AT&T Microelectronics Customer
Response Center, 1-800-372-2447 Ext. 874 (in Canada,
1-800-553-2448, Ext. 874); fax number +1-215-778-4106
(especially for customers outside of North America); or by
writing to AT&T Microelectronics, Dept. AL-500404200, 555 Union
Boulevard, Allentown, Pa., 18103.

        In addition to its cellular and wireless components, AT&T
Microelectronics offers a full line of high performance
components and electronic systems to original equipment
manufacturers, for applications in network computing,
telecommunications, and video.  Included in the product line are
CMOS, Bipolar, GaAs and High Voltage custom and standard
products, communications devices, graphics and speech
processors, interconnect products, lightwave products, and power
supplies.