Press Release
Japan USA Europe
Aston Bridgman Jim Lucas Jean-Francois Chouteau
NEC Corporation NEC Electronics,Inc. NEC Electronics France S.A
TEL : 81-3-3798-6511 1-408-588-6620 33-(0)1 30-67-58-00
FAX : 81-3-3457-7249 1-408-588-6130 33-(0)1 30-67-58-99
E-mail: Aston_Bridgman@HO-PRD.ccgw.nec.co.jp
E-mail: Jim_Lucas@el.nec.com
E-mail: ChouteauJF@ef.nec.de
*****For immediate use May 21, 1997
NEC's Semiconductor Group makes a full commitment to the smart card marketsecure microcontrollers by the year 2000 - Today the Semiconductor Group at NEC Corporation (NEC), a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, and Cie. des Machines Bull (Bull), renowned pioneer of the microprocessor card, announce that they have joined forces in developing a first generation of cost-effective microprocessor cards. With the launch of this new generation, NEC makes a full commitment to the growing market of smart card security microcontrollers. More than ever, smart cards are being adopted by service providers who are looking for improved security and value added services. Munekazu Suzuki, general manager of NEC Microcomputer Division, states: "Although the smart card market, for most applications, is fairly mature in Europe, the biggest growth is still in front of us throughout the rest of the world. NEC believes that both the trend towards standardization of card operating systems and the resulting interoperability, as well as the growing concern for security in multimedia-related applications (i.e. the Internet) constitute prime forces driving worldwide expansion of this market." NEC, a world leader in the semiconductor industry, is consistently bringing down technological barriers. The constant innovation characteristic of its advanced submicron technologies goes hand in hand with the company's massive investments in a truly worldwide manufacturing capability. This enables NEC to meet the needs of demanding applications, such as smart cards, with local production anywhere in the world (US, Europe, Asia-Pacific). With microcontroller production surpassing 40 million pieces per month, NEC manufacturing expertise is second to none. Technological savoir-faire is offered through a wide range of products, from 8-bit CISC to 64-bit RISC devices featuring embedded memories such as EEPROM and Flash, designed in processes going down to 0.25µm. A natural choice for the application of NEC's proven microcontroller expertise, the joint development of a new generation of security microcontrollers with the pioneer of the microprocessor card is the initial step in NEC's commitment to the smart card market. Building upon its competency as a world leading broad-line supplier of microcontrollers, memory and logic, NEC intends to become one of the top three suppliers of security microcontrollers by the year 2000. Security is the most valuable asset for smart card products. For this reason it has been an utmost priority to provide products integrating today's most sophisticated security features. Highly adapted solutions enable the smart card operating system to guarantee the best overall security. The µPD78981x family is a full range of high security microcontrollers designed around NEC's widely used 8-bit core, the 78K0s. This product is designed on a volume 0.8µm process, and features all specific peripheral functions of smart card applications. These include parallel EEPROM writing, Random Number Generator, full security circuits to protect the data from external attacks, and security manager taking appropriate action depending on the level of danger. The family will offer a broad range of memory size to meet the needs of various applications. NEC establishes a Smart Card Application Center in Europe The smart card technology was born in Europe about 20 years ago. It is by far the most mature market still generating the greatest number of innovations. For this reason, NEC has established a dedicated Smart Card Application Center in Europe, which will act as the European hub for marketing, chip design and application support activities. Located near Paris, it creates a global resource for smart card expertise, in synergy with NEC's Semiconductor Group in the US, Japan and Asia. As the demand for local support develops in other geographical regions, the operational model and expertise developed at this center will be utilized to establish similar support centers realizing a global network dedicated to smart card microcontroller development and supply. Munekazu Suzuki, adds: "With marketing, chip development and application support always nearby, and through local production facilities, NEC aims to provide customers with all the advantages of a local partner, while offering the solid guarantees of a global player." About NEC Founded in 1899 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, NEC Corporation is a global leader in computers, communications and electronic devices. NEC, with ¥4,397 billion (US$41.1 billion), revenue in 1997, develops, manufactures and markets over 15,000 products to meet diverse customer needs. Its worldwide operation includes 191 subsidiaries in 32 countries, 107 plants in 20 countries and marketing, service and research and development facilities in 31 countries with the work force of 153,000. Introducing the concept of "C&C", the convergence of computers and communications technologies, in 1977, NEC strives to lead in the multimedia era. NEC ranks second in the worldwide semiconductor market, and maintains diverse and balanced product manufacturing, including ASICs, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors and memories. With the capital investment of ¥190 billion in semiconductors in 1997, NEC is the first company to start volume production of advanced memories, using 0.25 micron processing technology. For more information on the company, please visit the NEC website at:
http://www.nec.co.jp/index_e.html *** |
