NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR AND SUN MICROSYSTEMS PARTNER TO PROVIDE THE HIGHEST NETWORKING AND COMPUTING PERFORMANCE FOR NEW ULTRA SYSTEMS

SANTA CLARA, CA, November 7, 1995 -- National Semiconductor Corporation announced today that it has partnered with Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) to provide networking connectivity for the newly announced Sun ULTRA(tm) family of desktop systems. The announcement is the result of both companies working together for the past 18 months to provide the workstation market with the highest performing system and the greatest connectivity options available.

"We are pleased to be working with Sun Microsystems on this project," said Doug McBurnie, vice president and general manager of National's LAN Division. "Our Fast Ethernet physical layer solution is a great fit for SMCC's high performance Ultra family where increased processing power requires embedded intelligence and reliability in a complex networking environment."

"It is the perfect match," said Bill Lee, vice president of engineering for SMCC's networking group. "Sun Microsystems produces the hottest workstations and servers and National produces the best Ethernet silicon. When you put two leaders like that together, customers will always come out winners."

According to details released from both companies, each Ultra desktop will contain the industry's best selling high-speed transceiver, National's DP83223 - (TWISTER) and National's physical layer device DP83840. These devices will be embedded on the motherboard and will allow each workstation to be connected to any network supporting existing 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX or both.

The workstations can be connected to a 10BASE-T network and when the network is upgraded in the future to support multimedia file transfers, video playback, etc. at 100 Mbit/s , no new card or re-configuration is required at the desktop, saving hundreds of dollars in labor and equipment costs. This is because of the silicon's embedded Auto- Negotiation technology, developed by National in early 1994, which automatically detects and configures the system to the highest speed and media type supported on the network. This includes both full and half-duplex operation.

With this networking capability, the Ultra family's high performance processing power and multimedia capabilities can be delivered through multiple network options. Both companies are confident that these types of features and functionality will differentiate them in the competitive workstation market.

Sun Microsystems Computer Company is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sales of networked computing systems and is a division of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Recognized for quality and innovation, the company's SPARC(tm) workstation and multiprocessing servers each hold the No. 1 UNIX marketshare position. These systems are used primarily by businesses, educational institutions and governments worldwide for technical, commercial, industrial, and software development applications.

National Semiconductor Corporation designs, develops and markets semiconductor Technologies for Moving and Shaping Information®. The company focuses on strategic markets within the communications, personal systems, industrial and consumer markets. National Semiconductor is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has 22,400 employees worldwide. In fiscal 1995, the company reported sales of $2.4 billion and achieved the highest earnings in its history.

TWISTER is a trademark of National Semiconductor Corporation Ultra is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Computer Company Technologies for Moving and Shaping Information is a registered trademark of National Semiconductor

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