Unicore Microsystems ramps production of its smart card microcontrollers with ROM and EEPROM IP from Aplus Flash Technology

Update: Aplus Flash Technology is no more in business

San Jose , CA, June 21, 2005 - Aplus Flash Technology, a leader in nonvolatile memory, and Unicore Microsystems LLC, a fabless Russian design house, have entered into production of Unicore's smart card UNC80C08 smart card microcontroller. The IC includes a highly efficient RISC UNC80 CPU, a fast 3DES crypto accelerator, over 4kV ESD protection, and operates over a wide working voltage range of 2.7V to 5.5V and industrial temperature of 25°C to 85°C. Unicore is one of the first companies to provide a domestically designed, fully integrated microcontroller IC for smart card applications within Russia. The first working sample was presented with high success and the product is now ramping for mass production.

Aplus Flash Technology supplies two customized 64Kbyte ROM and 8Kbyte EEPROM IP blocks to store the program and data for Unicore's various smart card applications. The licensing agreement allows Unicore to embed Aplus' high-quality, silicon-proven 0.35um ROM and EEPROM IP into its smart card microcontrollers for manufacture at Shanghai Manufacturing International Inc. (SMIC) in Shanghai.

"We evaluated a number of Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) IP providers for our smart card microcontrollers before selecting Aplus' ROM and EEPROM IP for our products," stated Dr. Andrey Livintsev, Deputy of General Director and Director of Marketing and Business Development at Unicore. "Aplus impressed us with their expertise and experience in a wide range of non-volatile memories. In particular, they have both standard and custom IP available for the 0.35um EEPROM technology at SMIC, which gives us flexibility and support to meet our product memory specifications. These are all silicon-proven IP, which is very important to reduce our product development cycle. We believe that their full-service IP support and range of products make them the best fit for our non-volatile memory IP needs now and for our future product roadmap."

Henry Ma, Aplus' Shanghai General Manager and VP of IP Sales and Marketing, said, "We are very pleased to be working with a leading IC design company such as Unicore to expand Aplus' customer base worldwide. We believe that Aplus' ROM and EEPROM IP and design services are leading in its class and one of the most competitive IP solutions for companies requiring embedded NVM in their products. Our ability to serve as a one-stop NVM solution shows our commitment to the success of our customers. Aplus will work closely with Unicore to quickly ramp into mass production."

Aplus' NVM customer base continues to grow - currently signed agreements include the license of its IP for end applications such as RFID, wireless consumer ICs and FPGA to ASIC conversions.

About Aplus Flash Technology:
Aplus Flash Technology is a fabless IC company offering non-volatile memory IP and memory products. Its line of NVM IP includes ROM, OTP, NTP, EEPROM, FLASH+EEPROM and FLASH, and can be embedded into a variety of communications, computing and consumer applications. Aplus offers both standard IP blocks as well as customized ASIC designs. In addition to its IP Aplus also develops standard memory products. Its IP blocks can be found in applications from smart cards to talking toys to microcontrollers and other IC drivers. Aplus' embedded licensees including leading global semiconductor companies and its foundry connections span worldwide in countries including Taiwan, Korea and China. For more information, please visit: www.aplusflash.com.

About Unicore Microsystems LLC:
Unicore Microsystems is a fabless company established in June 2002. The development of the company is based on maximum effective use of fabless company advantages, building mutually beneficial cooperation with partners both in Russia and abroad. The main goal of the company activities is chip design and manufacturing. Our mission is to provide high-quality services for our customers, shareholders, employees and the community. For more information, please visit: www.unicore.ru.