Cypress Enables High-Performance Capacitive Touchscreens to Replace Resistive With New TrueTouch™ Solution for Single-Layer Touchscreen Sensors

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 16, 2011 – Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) today unveiled a breakthrough feature for its TrueTouch™ touchscreen controllers that enables manufacturers of handsets, cameras, GPS systems and other mobile systems to offer the benefits of capacitive touchscreens at resistive touchscreen costs. The new feature available for Cypress’s CY8CTST241 (single-touch with one-finger gestures) and CY8CTST242 (adds limited two-finger gestures such as “pinch” and “zoom”) delivers high performance touchscreen accuracy and responsiveness with a true single-layer sensor panel, drastically reducing the cost of the most expensive component of the touchscreen.

Increasingly, capacitive touchscreens are viewed as a differentiator by buyers of new mobile devices. Capacitive advantages over resistive touchscreens include a more intuitive user experience, better transmissivity, lower power, increased reliability and better durability. Many lower-priced “feature phones” do not offer capacitive touchscreens today because of the cost. The new TrueTouch single-layer sensor opens up new “feature phones” and lower-cost smartphones to capacitive touchscreens, especially in major markets such as China and India.

Traditional capacitive touchscreens use a two-layer sensor to deliver the accuracy and linearity required for today’s user experience. Cypress has developed proprietary algorithms that interface with a true single-layer sensor with no bridges to deliver two-layer performance for an unparalleled combination of user experience and cost sensitivity. The removal of this second sensor layer can save mobile device manufacturers 30 percent or more on sensor costs, and is available today for glass and film. Even with only one sensor layer, the TrueTouch solution delivers accuracy better than 1.25 mm, excellent signal-to-noise ratios, fast response times (80Hz), and best-in-class active power of 3.6mW.

“This is a significant advancement in that it opens up a very large part of the market to capacitive touchscreens,” said Dhwani Vyas, vice president of the User Interface Business Unit at Cypress. “All manufacturers realize the attractiveness of touchscreens, and Cypress is delivering the performance, durability and attractiveness of capacitive touchscreens at a significantly lower price. In fact, leading manufacturers are already beginning high-volume production with this solution.”

Availability

The CY8CTST241 and CY8CTST242 are available today for lead customers. More information is available at www.cypress.com/go/TrueTouch. A high-resolution photo is available at www.cypress.com/go/SingleLayerPhoto.

About TrueTouch

The flexible TrueTouch solution allows customers to rapidly develop leading-edge solutions without having to buy turnkey modules. They have a choice of using touch sensors (glass or film) and LCDs from preferred partners, and can develop innovative mechanical designs ranging from flat to curved surfaces of varying thickness. In addition, TrueTouch devices offer Cypress’s legendary noise immunity with patented capacitive sensing technology that enables flawless operation in noisy RF and LCD environments.

Cypress’s CY8CTMA884 is the industry’s first single-chip tablet solution for touchscreens up to 11.6 inches. The high performance TMA300 multi-touch all-point family for smaller screens provides best-in-class scan times for true multi-finger touch and very high signal-to-noise ratio of more than 80:1 RMS. It also offers low power consumption (less than 1.3 mA low-power state current), best-in-class water rejection and wet-finger tracking, and more. Additional information about the TrueTouch solution is available at www.cypress.com/go/TrueTouch.

About Cypress

Cypress delivers high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable solutions that provide customers with rapid time-to-market and exceptional system value. Cypress offerings include the flagship PSoC® programmable system-on-chip families and derivatives such as PowerPSoC® solutions for high-voltage and LED lighting applications, CapSense® touch sensing and TrueTouch™ solutions for touchscreens. Cypress is the world leader in USB controllers, including the high-performance West Bridge® solution that enhances connectivity and performance in multimedia handsets. Cypress is also a leader in high-performance memories and programmable timing devices. Cypress serves numerous markets including consumer, mobile handsets, computation, data communications, automotive, industrial and military. Cypress trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol CY. Visit Cypress online at www.cypress.com.