Staccato and SMSC Collaborate to Develop Joint Reference Designs for Certified Wireless USB Market

Staccato Communications and SMSC (NASDAQ: SMSC) announced a joint effort to deliver two reference designs for the Certified Wireless USB market. This partnership demonstrates the interoperability of SMSC's high-performance USB hub products, including the recently announced SMSC USB MultiSwitch Hub (USB2524), with Staccato's single-chip all-CMOS Ripcord Wireless USB Device Wire Adapter solution. The two companies are developing reference designs that will offer full turn-key, pre-certified design kits including hardware, software, design files and documentation. These kits will facilitate the design implementation of SMSC and Staccato's small form factor and highly configurable solutions, enabling product developers to reduce overall time-to-market, cost and risk associated with designing Certified Wireless USB products while delivering industry-first features.

The two reference designs, based on Certified Wireless USB under development by Staccato and SMSC are:

4-port Wireless USB Switching Hub - utilizing SMSC's USB2524 USB
MultiSwitch Hub and Staccato's single-chip, all-CMOS Ripcord SC3502P Wireless USB Device Wire Adapter solution, the Wireless USB Switching Hub enables peripheral sharing capability in a Device Wire Adaptor and provides both wired and wireless USB connectivity in a multi-host environment.
7-port Wireless USB Hub - utilizing SMSC's USB2507 USB Hi-Speed
7-Port Hub and Staccato's single-chip, all-CMOS Ripcord SC3502P Wireless USB Device Wire Adapter solution, the 7-port Wireless USB Hub delivers SMSC's MultiTRAK hub technology built into its USB2507 from the wired USB world to a Wireless USB DWA.
We are pleased to be working with an industry leader like SMSC to offer customers Certified Wireless USB-based reference designs to meet critical product development needs. Our interoperability with SMSC's new USB MultiSwitch Hub, in particular, demonstrates our focus on partnering with world-class companies to deliver innovative devices, said Mark Bowles, Co-founder and Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Marketing for Staccato Communications. These reference designs allow our customers to take the guess work and obstacles out of the design cycle, which ultimately affords them a time-to-market advantage and fuels the continuing evolution of the Certified Wireless USB industry.

The USB MultiSwitch Hub enables a consumer to share devices between their wired and wireless enabled systems which can help accelerate the adoption of wireless USB, said Steve Nelson, Vice President and General Manger of Connectivity Products at SMSC. Through our work with Staccato Communications, our collective customer base profits as we develop a foundation of industry-leading designs. The relationship also further demonstrates our commitment to delivering robust Certified Wireless USB products to market quickly.

Reference designs are expected to be available in the fourth quarter of calendar 2006.