Motorola Announces New Family of Intelligent Power Switches

 E-SWITCH is a Family of Intelligent Power Switches to Enable the Replacement
   Of Electromechanical Relays in Vehicles By Providing a Flexible and Cost
                          Effective System Solution

    DETROIT, May 8 Higher reliability for instrumentation and
body control may be achieved by automakers with the replacement of traditional
electromechanical relays by an electronic solution that is flexible, cost
effective and intelligent.  E-SWITCH is the ideal answer for today's
automakers seeking reduced cost, weight, and size for electronic control
modules.  With the E-SWITCH products Motorola, Inc. is introducing
a new family of intelligent power switches for automotive applications.

    At the heart of the body electronics architecture are relays.  E-SWITCH is
the latest solution from Motorola in the drive towards fully electrical
systems, giving designers a solution that is robust and 'smart', designed to
provide diagnostic capabilities, high reliability and reduced parts counts.

    Combining the flexibility of power technology with advanced analog and
digital features, this family of products is designed to be useful in body
controllers, motor control and other high-power switching applications.  With
their ability to handle up to 40 Amps, the E-SWITCH parts are engineered to
thrive in applications such as lighting control, motor control for windows,
wipers and seats, HVAC, power steering and door locks.  The newest member of
this family is the MC33888, which offers maximum levels of integration for
powering automotive lighting modules.

    "Motorola is committed to making our customers in the automotive industry
more successful," stated Juergen Weyer, Vice President and General Manager of
the Body Electronics and Occupant Safety Division.  "With the E-SWITCH family,
automotive makers may significantly cut their cost, size and weight issues for
electronic control units, while making them even more reliable.  This
advancement will definitely help our customers meet some of their challenges
and mark a significant technology innovation in automotive engineering."

    E-SWITCH has an ultra low Rdson (ultra low resistance for less energy
dissipation), advanced integrated diagnostics and protections (reverse battery
protection, loss of ground, active current limitation and watch dog) and
sophisticated analog and digital functions (integrated SPI, programmable
current limitation and advanced fail-safe feature).

    The newest member of the E-SWITCH family the MC33888, a fully integrated
intelligent lamp and inductive load driver, is currently available.  Product
samples and data sheets are available upon request.

    Motorola's Transportation Systems Group provides core design
methodologies, non-volatile memory, SMARTMOS(TM), E-Switch, Mechatronics,
sensors, software and development tools for the automotive market.