NEC Electronics Announces V850ES/Sx3 32-bit Microcontrollers with Flash Memory for Automotive Audio Control

Industry's Largest Line-up of Car Audio MCUs Considerably Reduces System Development Costs and Time

Click image to enlarge

NEC Electronics Corp. (TSE: 6723), a leading semiconductor solutions provider, and its subsidiaries in the United States and Europe, NEC Electronics America, Inc. and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, today announced an addition to their industry-leading microcontroller (MCU) lineup targeting automotive audio control, the V850ES/Sx3^TM 32-bit MCUs. The new MCUs feature large-capacity flash memory, up to one megabyte (MB), and are based on the same 32-bit architecture as the company's popular V850ES^TM devices. The common architecture allows for compatibility between software, software development tools and system testing tools throughout the product line. This compatibility enables significant reductions in system development time and costs for manufacturers already using many of the previous generations of NEC Electronics' automotive MCUs.

As advances in equipment for car audio continue to increase, car audio manufacturers are demanding semiconductors that will allow them to develop a variety of systems as quickly and easily as possible. The new V850ES/Sx3 32-bit MCUs from NEC Electronics satisfy these demands by providing application-optimized, reliable products that will significantly reduce development times for car audio manufacturers and give automotive consumers a richer audio experience.

The V850ES/Sx3 32-bit MCUs are available in two sub-series: the V850ES/SJ3^TM and V850ES/SG3^TM. The MCUs feature flash memory capacities ranging from 256 kilobytes (KB) to 1 MB - one of the industry's largest on-chip flash memory capacities for MCUs. The increased amounts of available flash memory allow designers to write large amounts of software to internal memory to support additional functionality. This flexibility in memory size enables engineers to design software-differentiated product models on the same MCU. The MCUs use SuperFlash® technology licensed from Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.

All of the new devices use the NEC Electronics V850ES CPU core operating at speeds up to 32 megahertz (MHz) and are pin and software compatible with the existing V850ES/SJ2^TM and V850ES/SG2^TM MCUs. The V850ES/SJ3 MCU features 144 pins, while the V850ES/SG3 MCU features 100 pins. The products support the in-car controller area network (CAN) standard to allow high-speed data transfer. Both devices also boast strong resistance to EMI noise for increased audio fidelity.

Availability
Samples of both the V850ES/SJ3 and V850ES/SG3 32-bit microcontrollers are available now. Mass production of both microcontrollers is scheduled to start in October 2006, with a monthly production projection of one million units. Availability is subject to change.

About NEC Electronics

NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) specializes in semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the high-end computing and broadband networking markets, system solutions for the mobile handset, PC peripherals, automotive and digital consumer markets, and multi-market solutions for a wide range of customer applications. NEC Electronics Corporation has 26 subsidiaries worldwide including NEC Electronics America, Inc. (www.am.necel.com) and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH (www.eu.necel.com). In addition to marketing, selling and supporting NEC Electronics products to customers in their respective regions, NEC Electronics America and NEC Electronics Europe also operate local manufacturing facilities in Roseville, California, and Ballivor, Ireland, respectively. Additionally, NEC Electronics America for North America and NEC Electronics Europe in Europe are the sales and marketing channels of NEC AM-LCD modules. For additional information about NEC Electronics worldwide, visit www.necel.com.

NEC Electronics, V850ES/Sx3, V850ES, V850ES/SG3, V850ES/SJ3, V850ES/SG2 and V850E/SJ2 are either a registered trademark or trademark of NEC Electronics Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. SuperFlash is a registered trademark of Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. All other registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners.