NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR INTRODUCES POWER.NATIONAL.COM- FIRST ADVANCED ONLINE DESIGN SOLUTION FOR ANALOG ENGINEERS

Power Management Leader National Teams with Transim to Bring Groundbreaking Interactive Pay-Per-Use Power Supply Simulation to Design Engineers

October 25, 1999 - National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today announced the introduction of http://power.national.com, the semiconductor industry's first comprehensive web environment for power supply designers, featuring a unique browser-based simulation tool. This secure site allows design engineers to select an architecture and a device, validate their design through simulations, order products from National's broad range of power management solutions, and create a bill of materials all in a single web session, reducing the time and expense of power supply development and allowing designers to shorten design cycles.

POWER.NATIONAL.COM features Webench™, an interactive collection of tools that lead a designer from selection, simulation, sampling and on to physical designs. Central to Webench is WebSIM™, an Internet-based simulation program developed by Los Altos, CA-based Transim Inc., a leading developer of advanced simulation software. With WebSIM, complex interactive simulations-formerly done only by high-end computers using expensive software packages-are now enabled real-time on models validated for accuracy by National.

"I think the tool has great potential for accelerating device selection, as well as facilitating rapid prototyping of circuit blocks," said David Katz, senior design engineer, Internet and Networking Group, Motorola Corp. "Given its broad variety of analysis options and intuitive user interface, it can easily save weeks worth of part searches and design simulations."

Partnering for Innovation
National Semiconductor teamed with simulation software innovator Transim to forge the next generation of web innovation. With WebSIM, the Internet becomes more than a source of searchable data-it is now a critical interactive design tool that lets engineers create and test accurate virtual prototypes of products from any browser-equipped personal computer.

"Transim is reducing the time and cost barriers to useful simulation," said Nels Gabbert, president and CEO at Transim. "With Webench and WebSIM, engineers and companies of any size can get sophisticated design information through simulation quickly, simply and inexpensively over the Internet using an ordinary web browser. Our partnership with National gives designers unique access to models verified by National, which insures quick, robust and accurate simulations."

"National is number one in power management (as reported by Dataquest) , and Transim offers the best in power simulation technology. So it made sense to partner, create POWER.NATIONAL.COM and make available to our customers the fastest, most accurate and most convenient design tools in the industry," said Dennis Monticelli, vice president of the Power Management group at National Semiconductor. "National recognized the critical role simulation plays in helping designers quickly evaluate designs, explore what-if scenarios and head off potential problems early in the design process."

Capabilities of POWER.NATIONAL.COM
POWER.NATIONAL.COM is a web site community created by National that contains research, product information, news, tutorials, chat boards, application support, and most importantly, the interactive set of tools called Webench. The highlight of the Webench is WebSIM, a browser-based tool that enables fast, accurate and relevant design simulations across start-up, time and frequency domains, and under changing supplies and loads. By using POWER.NATIONAL.COM and WebSIM, designers are able to complete the once-arduous simulation process by simply accessing the Internet, picking components to simulate, entering circuit set up or test conditions, and then simulating, cutting design time from weeks to hours.

The Power site also features an initial library of 184 power products and validated models, as well as more than 1,000 passive components. Through WebSIM, users can vary test conditions and perform simulations of transient response, Bode plots and min/max load tests. Simulation data generated includes interactive schematics, graphs and tables. Simulations typically take just seconds and are fully interactive. Users pay less than $10 per simulation.

Leading the Way in E-Business
Business-to-business Internet commerce is surging, and National will address this growing market by continuing to add services to its web site that save customers time, while enhancing their online experience.

"National recognizes the growing importance of the Internet in all aspects of business, including design, purchasing and sales, and is committed to empowering design engineers by making leading-edge technology and design tools available to them through our web site," said Phil Gibson, vice president of Web Business at National. "With the introduction of POWER.NATIONAL.COM, National is dramatically changing the way design engineers interact with suppliers, and is providing not only products, but complete solutions that allow our customers to address their product and design simulation needs from their own web browsers."

National is recognized for its innovative Internet strategy and has received a number of industry awards, including the CIO WebBusiness 50/50 award for online business excellence in the Intranet/Extranet category in 1999; Business on the Internet (BOTI) award for best extranet application in 1998; and the Outstanding Web Site Award in the interactive services category in 1998.

About Transim
Transim, Inc. is a privately held company that develops advanced simulation software for the designer of electronic systems. The leader in switch-mode power supply (SMPS) simulation with its core product, SIMPLIS, Transim delivers sophisticated inexpensive and easy to use simulation over the Internet. Transim's WebSIM product, allows design engineers to quickly and easily perform power simulations over the Internet using standard Web-browser technology and with simulation results typically within 5% of the real hardware. Established in 1991, Transim serves a Fortune 100 customer base. The company, based in Los Altos, CA, also has offices in Boston, MA and Portland, OR. Transim can be contacted at 1925 NW Overton, Portland, OR; phone: 503/450-1355; fax: 503/295-2720. The Transim World Wide Web site is http://www.transim.com.

About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2 billion for its last fiscal year and currently has about 11,000 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.