| Press Release *****For immediate use January 21th, 2002 NEC Announces New Ultra-Low Power VR4181A Microprocessor With 18 Built-in Peripherals-New System-on-a-Chip Enables High-Performance Multimedia and Internet Capabilities for Next-Generation Automotive, Industrial and Portable Applications-TOKYO and SANTA CLARA, Calif. - January 21, 2002 - Expanding its integrated MIPS®-based VR SeriesTM microprocessors, NEC Corporation and its wholly owned semiconductor affiliate in the United States, NEC Electronics Inc., today introduced the VR4181ATM 64-bit microprocessor. The VR4181A product is the latest addition to NEC's VR4100TM family of processors designed to provide low-power operation with high integration. The microprocessor integrates more than 18 peripherals and interfaces with a powerful VR4120ATM processor core. As a result, this processor provides a unique system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution for portable devices, industrial applications, automotive communications and telematics applications. "The performance-to-power consumption ratio and integrated peripheral support of the VR4181A product deliver multimedia and Internet access capabilities that make it a strong choice for high-performance, power-sensitive portable applications, and industrial controls and displays,"said Karl Auker, associate general manager for NEC Electronics' VR Series strategic business unit. "Additionally, OEMs can leverage the processor's numerous peripherals and interfaces to support advanced telematics applications in next-generation automotive systems." Manufactured using NEC's 0.25-micron process technology, the VR4181A processor features an optimized six-stage pipeline and a 131-megahertz (MHz) VR4120A-based processor core to deliver 157 million instructions per second (MIPS). However, this high level of performance is achieved with a power consumption of only 500 milliwatts at full clock speed. Power consumption levels for this single-chip solution are even lower in the standby, suspend and hibernate modes, where power consumption levels are measured in microwatts. The VR4181A microprocessor's effective performance level increases even more over its predecessor, the VR4181 processor, thanks to its larger 8-kilobyte (KB) instruction cache and 8 KB data cache. With support for the MIPS I, II, III and MIPS 16 instruction sets, the product gives designers a range of options for software development. Design flexibility is further enhanced with the processor's support for several memory types, including flash, SRAM, SDRAM and SyncFlash. The product uses a small 240-pin FPBGA package to accommodate the space restrictions characteristic of most portable and automotive designs. New Processor Supports Broad Range of Peripherals Demand for audio, communications and telematics systems with support for voice-activation, MP3 audio playback, Internet radio, Web browsing, text-to-speech and wireless access protocol (WAP) is increasing. To accommodate these requirements, the VR4181A microprocessor has more than 18 built-in peripherals and interfaces including the following:
Pricing and Availability Engineering samples of NEC's VR4181A processor are available now with volume production scheduled for April 2002. The product is priced at U.S. $20 in 10,000-unit quantities. Pricing and availability are subject to change. About NEC's VR Series Microprocessors NEC's VR Series 64-bit MIPS Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) microprocessors provide comprehensive solutions for embedded system designers. Developed around the MIPS architecture, all of the VR Series microprocessors are backward code-compatible and highly scalable. Furthermore, NEC is committed to providing complete design environment support for its VR Series microprocessors by offering a wide range of companion chipsets, development platforms and a comprehensive set of development tools. For more information on NEC's VR Series microprocessors, please visit the NEC Electronics web site at http://www.necel.com/microprocessors/index.cfm. About NEC Corporation NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) is a leading provider of Internet solutions, dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its customers in the key computer network and electron device fields through its three market-focused in-house companies: NEC Solutions, NEC Networks and NEC Electron Devices. NEC Corporation, with its in-house companies, employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and saw net sales of 5,409 billion Yen (approx. US$43 billion) in fiscal year 2000-2001. For further information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com. About NEC Electronics Inc. NEC Electronics Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is one of the leading developers, manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor products in the United States. Committed to meeting customers' cost, performance and time-to-market requirements, the company offers solutions ranging from standard products, including electron components, to system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, as well as customized products for next-generation designs. NEC Electronics also offers customers the benefits of a local manufacturing facility in Roseville, Calif., and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company, NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY). For more information about products offered by NEC Electronics Inc., please visit the NEC Electronics web site at http://www.necel.com. *** NEC Electronics Inc., VR Series, VR4181, VR4181A, VR4100 and VR4120 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of NEC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. MIPS is a registered trademark of MIPS Technologies. Windows CE.Net is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. QNX is a registered trademark of QNX Software Systems Ltd. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Vx Works is a trademark of Wind River Systems. All other registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners. #10955 NEC Press Contacts: |
