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PCI-SIG Sets Date for First PCI Express Architecture Compliance Workshop

Additionally, Group Delivers Mobile Graphics Low-Power Addendum for Member Review

Intel Developer Forum, San Jose, CA - Sept 16, 2003 - The PCI-SIG®, the Special Interest Group responsible for PCI Express™, PCI™ Conventional and PCI-X® industry-standard I/O technologies, has announced the first PCI Express compliance workshop to take place on December 15-17, 2003 in Milpitas, Calif.

Compliance workshops represent opportunities for PCI-SIG members to test their products for compliance to PCI-SIG specifications. The first PCI Express compliance workshop signals expected availability of member components and solutions based on the new I/O technology. PCI Express technology is a breakthrough I/O interconnect architecture that speeds and simplifies I/O connections across numerous computing and communications platforms.

"Compliance and interoperability are the cornerstone benefits of membership in the PCI-SIG," said Tony Pierce, chairman of the PCI-SIG. "We are proud to offer the first compliance workshop for PCI Express technology in 2003. We expect our members to take full advantage of the opportunity to test early PCI Express technology-enabled product and platforms as we continue to plan additional compliance workshops in other geographical locations to serve our member needs."

"With the completion of PCI Express compliance checklists and the imminent release of other compliance collateral, the PCI-SIG is ready to initiate compliance workshops for this new technology," said Brad Hosler, chair of the PCI-SIG PCI Express Enabling Workgroup. "With member product development underway, these compliance workshops provide critical checkpoints to ensure interoperable product delivery to the industry."

PCI Express Mobile Graphics Low-Power Addendum
PCI-SIG also announces the release of the PCI Express Mobile Graphics Low-Power Addendum for member review. The addendum, part of the PCI Express Base 1.0a specification, is expected to facilitate the use of PCI Express technology in mobile platforms requiring low I/O power consumption by allowing a low-swing transmitter and a shorter channel. Mobile platforms stand to benefit greatly from low power designs especially in wider interconnects that support high-performance applications such as graphics.

"The release of the Mobile Graphics Low-Power Addendum is yet another proof-point of the flexibility and growing relevance of the PCI Express architecture in multiple market segments and applications," said Ajay Bhatt, chair of the PCI-SIG PCI Express Steering Committee. "This addendum allows mobile platform architects to take advantage of lower thermal design points in optimizing for a low-swing transmitter and a shorter interconnect in designing their systems."

Benefits of PCI-SIG Membership
PCI-SIG members can participate in the review of all PCI specifications before they are released to the industry. If you are interested in becoming a member, please visit the PCI-SIG Web site at www.pcisig.com/membership. PCI-SIG members develop and maintain PCI Express specifications and are actively involved in defining compliance criteria and checklists, as well as other technical enabling collateral.

As an additional and extremely valuable benefit of PCI-SIG membership, members are given the right to receive patent licenses from any other member of our organization with necessary claims of patent embodied within our specifications. These licenses may be limited in scope to an implementation of a particular specification, but must be granted to all members on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

About the PCI-SIG

The PCI-SIG is the Special Interest Group that owns and manages PCI specifications as open industry standards. The organization defines and implements new industry standard I/O (Input/Output) specifications as the industry's local I/O needs evolve. The PCI Special Interest Group was formed in 1992, and the organization became a nonprofit corporation, officially named "PCI-SIG" in the year 2000. Currently, more than 860 industry-leading companies are active PCI-SIG members worldwide. The PCI-SIG's current directors are employed by the following PCI-SIG member companies: AMD, Broadcom, HP, IBM, Intel, LSI Logic, Microsoft, Phoenix Technologies, and Texas Instruments. For more information about the PCI-SIG, and PCI-SIG membership benefits, contact the PCI-SIG by phone, at (503) 291-2569 (within the United States), or by fax at (503) 297-1090, or visit the PCI-SIG web site at http://www.pcisig.com.

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