Recognized Interconnect Expert Tom Cox Named Executive Director of the RapidIO(R) Trade Association

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 14 -- Tom Cox, a founding member of the RapidIO® Trade Association who served as the initial Marketing Working Group Chairman, rejoins the association as its new executive director. Mr. Cox earned a reputation in the industry as an interconnect expert, both from a technical and market perspective based on his knowledge of systems, applications, and chips, as well as his vast experience in both industry associations and market-leading corporations.

"The RapidIO Trade Association is pleased to welcome Tom back to our organization as executive director. His experience in the communications, embedded systems, storage, enterprise, military, and PC markets signals strong leadership for the association and support for the RapidIO ecosystem," said Dave Wickliff, chairman of the RapidIO Trade Association Steering Committee. "We believe Tom will deliver a clear direction for the future of RapidIO technology as it continues to permeate the market as the embedded fabric of choice."

Mr. Cox brings more than 26 years of experience in engineering, marketing and strategy, with a heavy emphasis on interconnects and standards, to the RapidIO Trade Association. Most recently he was with Tundra Semiconductor as director of strategy where he worked to ensure the company's strategic vision was achieved through interaction with partners and strategic customers, participation in SIGs and trade associations, and through market research.

"Having worked with Tom Cox on numerous bus architecture and research reports, it is clear that he has a thorough understanding of the technology and is consistently on target with the direction the RapidIO Trade Association and the market was taking," said Ernie Bergstrom, principal analyst, Crystal Cube Consulting. "His return as executive director is a positive step for the RapidIO Trade Association, and we look forward to working with him in the coming months."

Mr. Cox spent five years with IBM Microelectronics in strategic marketing where he had full responsibility for the PCI product line. He has held executive and engineering positions with ATI Technologies Inc., LSI Logic Corporation of Canada, Inc., Litton Systems Canada, and Philips Electronics Canada. While working with ATI, Mr. Cox was a founding member of the PCI SIG. He has served on numerous other industry workgroups including PICMG, VITA VME, and NPF workgroups, bringing vital insight and strong relationships to the RapidIO Trade Association.

As one of his first acts as executive director, Mr. Cox will be presenting an EE Times NetSeminar entitled Design Considerations with RapidIO Fabric Technology on November 15, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. PT/ 4:00 p.m. EST.

A prolific author, Mr. Cox has written numerous papers and articles related to new technology developments and industry trends like PCI, RapidIO, Hypertransport and PCI-Express (3GIO), and contributed to the book, RapidIO: The Embedded System Interconnect. He is a sought-after participant for the industry's expert panel discussions and conferences, and has presented at numerous RapidIO Trade Association member training events.

Mr. Cox replaces Iain Scott who left the RapidIO Trade Association to pursue other opportunities.

About The RapidIO Trade Association

The RapidIO Trade Association and its global members drive the RapidIO® interconnect architecture. This ISO-certified, open-standard seamlessly enables the chip-to-chip, board-to-board, control, backplane and data plane interconnections needed in high-performance networking, communications and embedded systems. RapidIO-based products are shipping now, including silicon chips, boards and systems. Detailed information on the RapidIO specification, products, design tools, member companies, and membership is available at www.RapidIO.org .

RapidIO® is a registered trademark and RapidFabric(TM) is a trademark of the RapidIO Trade Association. Product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.