SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 2, 2012) - Micrel, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ MCRL ]), an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications and Ethernet IC solutions, today announced it has been awarded first prize by "Electron d'Or 2012," the "Golden Electron Award 2012." The event marks the first time that Micrel has been honored by the organization which has been recognizing outstanding technology contributions for the past 15 years. The award ceremony is organized by the French electronic magazine ElectroniqueS ([ www.electroniques.biz ]) with Micrel taking first place in Power Management and Energy conversion category for its innovative new [ MIC94310 ] Ripple Blocker Switching Regulator. Launched in February 2012, Micrel's solution reduces switching regulator output ripple and harmonics by 60db at high frequencies. It also delivers unmatched power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) from DC to 10MHz in 65 percent less space than discrete solutions. 

"Micrel is honored to accept this award which recognizes both the technology innovation and Micrel's green power achievement. In the short time since the [ MIC94310 ] has been launched, customers are already realizing the advantages of this breakthrough product which helps to develop products with higher image capturing quality and higher signal receiving strength (in smart-phones), and no dropped calls," noted Brian Hedayati, marketing vice president for the analog division at Micrel. "Now customers have a choice that gives them a significant advantage over current discrete solutions, especially in applications where sufficient ripple suppression is vital and enhancing the minimum detectable signal in data processing systems is paramount to the design."

"The Electron d'Or award ceremony has been held every year since 1997. It recognizes the best products of the year in 12 categories as well as the most innovative French start-up in the electronic domain. This key event of the French electronic industry will continue its mission to promote for the coming next years the innovation in this business sector," noted Pascal Coutance, Chief Editor of ElectroniqueS and [ www.electroniques.biz ].

Micrel's Ripple Blocker family is comprised of the [ MIC94300 ] voltage follower output and the [ MIC94310 ] fixed output, low-dropout (LDO) IC. The ground-breaking new [ MIC94300 ] /[ MIC94310 ] were developed to provide more efficient noise suppression for today's highly sensitive data and image capturing systems. The awarding winning [ MIC94310 ] is a high-performance, low dropout regulator that offers better PSRR performance from DC to 5MHz than discrete solutions. Both ICs feature an active-high enable pin for power sequencing. This first-of-a-kind IC family is ideal for today's most demanding portable applications, including smart phones, medical imaging, tablets/ notebooks/webcams, digital still and video cameras, bar code scanners, GPS and image system processors for image sensors. 

Micrel's new Ripple Blocker technology improves minimum detectable signal capturing for low-light image sensors by suppressing system power ripple for the Image System Processor (ISP). By eliminating the large LC filter that would typically be required to reduce ripple in a discrete solution, the [ MIC943XX ] series devices provide more usable board space to accommodate space-constrained designs. In addition, this new series offers an operating input range of 1.8V to 3.6V with exceptional transient performance, ultra-low dropout and very high PSRR (80db @ 1KHz). For more information or to order the MIC943XX evaluation board, visit: [ Ripple Blocker ].

About Micrel, Inc.
Micrel, Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of IC solutions for the worldwide analog, Ethernet and high bandwidth markets. The Company's products include advanced mixed-signal, analog and power semiconductors; high-performance communication, clock management, Ethernet switch and physical layer transceiver ICs. Company customers include leading manufacturers of enterprise, consumer, industrial, mobile, telecommunications, automotive, and computer products. Corporation headquarters and state-of-the-art wafer fabrication facilities are located in San Jose, CA, with regional sales and support offices and advanced technology design centers situated throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. In addition, the Company maintains an extensive network of distributors and reps worldwide. Web: [ http://www.micrel.com ].

Note: Ripple Blocker is a trademark of Micrel, Inc.