EL SEGUNDO, CA - International Rectifier has just completed a major revision of its popular website (http://www.irf.com), adding new capabilities that make it more useful to engineers. These improvements include new utilities to provide quick and easy access to a library of information on all products, as well as new hyperlinks to IR service providers to order products or get answers to product specific questions.

"These new capabilities supplement the powerful product selection navigator capabilities previously offered by the site, making it a complete on-line resource for engineers looking for solutions for all aspects of the power conversion process," says Rodney Kirts, Webmaster at International Rectifier. "Now, in addition to getting assistance in selecting the right product for a specific application, an engineer can access product-specific topical sites to obtain data sheets, white papers, application notes, design tips, short form catalogs, selection guides, SPICE and Saber models, product status updates, pricing information, images of case styles, images of package types, parametric values and other useful information. We also included hyperlinks to IR's service channels including sales representatives, distributors, IR's Product Information Center for technical inquiries and IR's literature department. This will make it quick and easy to order all IR products and to obtain more information on a product should it be required," he added.

The new website also puts the customer in direct contact with the product groups, allowing product specific questions to be sent directly to the appropriate people. The calendar of events shows IR trade show participation, presentations and distributor visits, allowing customers to know where they might meet with IR personnel for specific questions.

The website product selection navigator provides the user with a new way of performing product selection. The navigator is a matrix of voltage requirements and images of package types by product family. The user simply identifies the image of the package type required, then selects the voltage requirement along with a few other parameters based on the product family. The color coded matrix will indicate if the product is an existing, new, upcoming or potential product.

Also new to the website is the inclusion of IR's 1997 short form catalog in pdf format for easy viewing and downloading. This pdf file has also been enhanced with part number hyperlinks to datasheets. This new feature is available using the new Adobe Acrobat 3.0 Reader - freeware from the Adobe website (http://www.adobe.com).

In operation, an engineer would use either the product navigator or short form catalog to select the proper power conversion component, then enter a part number in an on-screen floater window to bring up a second browser to connect with the full-service backend features of IR's electronic database.

The latest version of IR's website is already up and running. The address is: www.irf.com.

High Resolution JPEGs are available in the Press Room.