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I SD Announces 3-Volt Record and Playback Chip Series Optimized for Cellular and Portable Phones


ISD33000 ChipCorder® Series Offers Up to Four MinutesRecord and Playback Time in a Design Consuming Very Little Power

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 29, 1996 -- ISD (Information Storage Devices, Inc.) (NASDAQ: ISDI), a leading supplier of semiconductor voice record and playback solutions, today announced the ISD33000 series, the industry's first 3-volt, single-chip record and playback products optimized for portable phones.

The product family is optimized for both analog and digital cellular phones -- including Personal Communication Service (PCS), Personal Handy Phone System (PHS), Global System Mobile (GSM), Japanese Digital Cellular (JDC), and cordless phones that rely on 3-volt technologies to minimize power consumption. The single-chip solutions are designed to be integrated into phones to serve as built-in answering machines and voice memo pads. ISD also expects the chips to be integrated into voice pagers, personal voice organizers, personal digital assistants, portable instrumentation equipment and tapeless pocket recorders.

In addition to offering true 3-volt (2.7 to 3.3V) operation, the new ISD33000 product family offers longer recording durations than previous ISD products: up to four minutes. Due to a new ISD chip architecture, the ISD33000 series can be quickly integrated into portable products, ultimately decreasing design time and time to market. Specifically, the series offers a highly integrated serial interface, minimizing pin count and circuit traces.

A new AutoMuteTM feature has been added into the ISD33000 series to virtually eliminate any background noise occurring during playback of silent periods or pauses in audiorecordings. As in all ChipCorder® products, the ISD33000 provides excellent sound quality due to its proprietary direct storage technology and on-chip filters. The CMOS ISD33000 chips also integrate a nonvolatile memory array, oscillator and audio amplifier to provide a complete record and playback system-on-a-chip for portable phones.

"ISD's 5-volt chips have allowed the company to develop an impressive customer base in the cellular and PHS phone markets and we are convinced that our 3-volt series will expand this customer base," said David Angel, president and CEO of ISD. "ISD recognizes that low-power solutions are essential to the cellular and portable phone market today. As a result, we expect our new 3-volt chips to be well received both by current and new customers. This technology is proof that ISD continues to march in step with the cellular and portable phone industry, recognizing its needs and responding with innovative solutions."

The ISD33000 series will offer seven product variations:

  • The ISD33060 will record up to one minute of audio information at a sampling rate of 8 kilohertz (KHz);
  • ISD33075, 75 seconds at 6.4 KHz;
  • ISD33090, 1.5 minutes at 5.3 KHz;
  • ISD33120, two minutes at 8 KHz;
  • ISD33150, 2.5 minutes at 6.4 KHz;
  • ISD33180, three minutes at 5.3 KHz; and
  • the ISD33240, four minutes at 4 KHz.

Target Markets


The ISD33000 series is designed to be easily integrated into analog and digital cellular and cordless phones to serve either as telephone answering devices (TAD) or voice memo pads. The TAD feature enables users to receive important messages when it is inconvenient to answer the phone, such as while in a meeting or during a business lunch. Outgoing and incoming messages are recorded directly onto an ISD chip that is integrated into the phone. Cellular phone users know immediately if they have messages which they can then quickly retrieve and review without accessing outside answering machines or voicemail systems.

The voice memo pad feature allows users to simply press a button on their portable phone to record important messages to themselves. This memo button can also be used to record segments of phone conversations "on-the-fly" and capture important information such as phone numbers or directions. The messages can be played back later, much like a tape recorder. Like all ISD devices, the ISD33000 products do not require battery power to retain recorded messages and messages can be recorded and re-recorded reliably over 100,000 times.

Jane Zweig, vice president of Herschel Shosteck Associates, Ltd., a cellular market research and consulting firm based in Wheaton, Md., predicts that cellular telephone sales will remain strong over the next three years. Referring to the latest issue of the firm's study, Cellular Market Forecasts, Zweig said, "During the 12 years from inception of the U.S. cellular industry in 1983 through year-end 1995, 46.2 million new cellular phones were sold in the U.S. market. During the next three years -- 1996 through 1998 -- that total will increase by 95 percent to 89.9 million."

Features and Technology


The ISD33000 series is based on ISD's patented ChipCorder technology which enables a single-chip solution for voice record and playback in a variety of consumer, communications and industrial applications. It uses a proprietary "multilevel" storage methodology in which one of more than 250 distinct voltage levels are precisely stored per memory cell. This provides approximately eight times more storage space for any given memory size than the alternative two-level, digital signal storage technology. ChipCorder technology enables voice and audio signals to be stored directly in their natural form into nonvolatile EEPROM memory cells, eliminating the need for external A/D and D/A circuits.

Significant engineering challenges were successfully overcome by the ISD team that developed the ISD33000. First and foremost, the chips operate at the specified range of 2.7 to 3.3 volts with a 25mA typical operating current and 1uA standby current. This was accomplished via a complete re-design of the chip to support low voltage operation. The second greatest challenge was to uphold high-quality voice reproduction and maintain the same signal-to-noise ratio found in ISD's 5-volt chips while operating at a lower voltage range. To achieve this, the resolution of the writing algorithm was improved by 35 percent, to ~7.5mV per level, which is believed to be the highest resolution ever reported using multilevel storage in nonvolatile memory.

Additionally, the development team preserved high quality audio recording by adding the AutoMute feature and improving noise isolation on the chip through optimization of the die layout. By designing the ISD33000 with portable phone requirements in mind, ISD was able to meet 3-volt requirements and cost objectives without compromising quality.

"We are extremely proud of the engineering challenges that were successfully overcome in the development of this new series," said Carl Palmer, vice president of engineering at ISD. "We believe our multilevel storage technology is a pioneering technology and the only solution of its kind. That fact that we have now decreased the operating voltage of our ChipCorder products, while increasing recording durations and maintaining the natural voice quality found in our 5-volt chips, is a highly significant achievement."

The ISD33000 series is the first ChipCorder series to support serial protocols, including Motorola's Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and National Semiconductor's Microwire. This support required a total re-architecture of chip control and logic. Serial interfaces have three major advantages over parallel. First, serial interface chips are easier to integrate due to fewer pins and consequently fewer circuit traces. Second, because chips can be designed in closer proximity to one another, less board space is consumed. Lastly, serial interfaces require fewer dedicated pins from a microcontroller.

To further simplify the ISD33000 series design cycle, the company will offer microcontroller code designed to provide message management and control functions for microcontrollers from Motorola, National Semiconductor and Microchip Technology.

A universal sound development and programming system, although not required, will be available for manufacturers. This unit will be useful to manufacturers who need to program a master recording and copy it onto all ISD chips, e.g., for pre-recorded outgoing messages in portable phone TADs, or for pre-programmed messages in exact locations of the ISD33000 series products.

Availability and Pricing


Samples of the ISD33000 series will be available in August for 2-4 minute durations, and in October for 1-1.5 minute durations, through ISD's direct sales offices, worldwide network of distribution channels and sales representatives. The chips are scheduled to be in full production by November and February, respectively, available in either die form, 28-pin SOIC, PDIP or TSOP (8 x 13.4 mm) packages. Chips in the ISD33000 series will be priced at between $8.30 and $16.60, depending upon recording durations, packaging and temperature requirements, for quantities of 50,000 units.

About ISD


ISD designs, develops and markets integrated circuit solutions for voice applications in the consumer, communications and industrial markets. The company is located at 2045 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, Calif., 95125. Telephone: (408) 369-2400. Fax: (408) 369-2422. All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Note: ChipCorder is a registered trademark of ISD, Inc. All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.


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