Company Targets Portable PC Market With Expanded Connection Options
TOKYO and SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
NEC Corp. (Nasdaq: NIPNY) and its wholly owned subsidiary in the United
States, NEC Electronics Inc., today announced they have developed a Universal
Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 host controller to be fully compliant with the Enhanced
Host Controller Interface specification (EHCI) version 1.0. With this
enhancement, NEC's USB host controller, the uPD720101, enables high-speed
signaling and delivers up to 20 percent more bandwidth than NEC's previous
EHCI version 0.95-compliant host controller. The new product also features
low power consumption, making it ideal for use in portable personal computers
(PCs) and other peripherals. NEC will be demonstrating the uPD720101 host
controller at WinHEC 2002 (April 16-17), booth #615 in Seattle.
"With the growing demand for high-performance multimedia peripherals such
as DVD-ROM drives, video cameras and broadband Internet connections for
portable applications, NEC sees USB 2.0 as a key market for its electron
device solutions business," said Hidetoshi Kosaka, general manager, Network
System LSI Development Division, NEC Corporation. "NEC has led the industry
in delivering USB 2.0 solutions and has seen rapid adoption of our products,
having already shipped more than four million EHCI 0.95-compliant host
controllers as of March 2002. As we continue to expand the USB 2.0 standard
to deliver an enhanced user experience, we expect to see products based on
this standard continue to penetrate the PC market."
"The release of Microsoft's native USB 2.0 support for the Windows XP
operating system earlier this year and NEC's release of EHCI 1.0-compliant
hardware are huge steps forward for USB 2.0 adoption," said David W. Williams,
director of Windows Hardware Platform Strategy at Microsoft Corp. "We're
pleased that our mutual customers will be able to take full advantage of
high-bandwidth, power-efficient USB 2.0 interfaces to connect a variety of
devices to their PCs and enable new device scenarios."
Jason Ziller, chairman of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and Intel
technology initiatives manager, said, "USB 2.0 is experiencing rapid adoption
by major technology OEMs, and we expect to see an increasing number of PCs
sold in 2002 support the technology. As a leading supplier of USB 2.0
controller solutions, NEC has played a major role in delivering this
connection technology to the market."
With support for the EHCI specification, which describes the
register-level interface for a USB 2.0 host controller, NEC can deliver a
high-performance solution. Revision 1.0 of the interface allows the
implementation of both discrete- and integrated-compliant EHCI host
controllers, improving data transmission with up to 20 percent higher
bandwidth than EHCI 0.95-compliant devices.
Optimized to deliver best-in-class performance for the portable PC market,
NEC's uPD720101 chip offers up to 90 percent lower power consumption at
11 milliamps (mA) in PC standby mode or 220 mA in an unconfigured state.
Additionally, high-speed peripherals can connect to NEC's new host controller
using up to three-fifths less power than with the company's first USB 2.0 host
controller LSI chip. The new host controller is offered in a small 144-pin
QFP/FPBGA package, enabling low-cost board designs.
Pricing and Availability
Samples of the NEC USB 2.0 host controller LSI chip (uPD720101) are
available in the United States from NEC Electronics at an expected $50 each.
Volume production is expected to begin in July 2002. NEC plans to produce
10 million units of its two host controller LSI products by the end of 2002.
About NEC USB 2.0 Products
NEC introduced the industry's first USB 2.0 host controller, hub
controller and physical layer (PHY) devices. As a result of NEC's position as
a leading innovator of semiconductor solutions for the USB 2.0 standard, many
third-party vendors have produced USB 2.0 drivers and reference designs based
on NEC's devices. NEC plans to deliver additional products based on USB 2.0,
a standard that promotes an operating speed of 480 megabits per second (Mbps),
a forty-fold increase in bandwidth compared to the USB 1.1 standard. NEC is a
core member of the USB-IF, a key organization promoting the widespread
acceptance of USB throughout the industry.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation 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 approximately $43 billion in fiscal year 2000-2001. For further
information, visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com .
About NEC Electronics Inc.
NEC Electronics Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, 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 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 state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Roseville, CA,
and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company, NEC
Corporation. For more information about products offered by NEC Electronics
Inc., visit the NEC Electronics website at http://www.necel.com .
NOTE: NEC Electronics Inc. is either a registered trademark or trademark
of NEC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other
registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners.
SOURCE NEC Electronics Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.necel.com
CONTACT:
Bob Nelson of Porter Novelli,
+1-408-369-1500, ext. 24, or bob.nelson@porternovelli.com, for
NEC Electronics Inc.; or U.S., Denise Viereck Garibaldi of NEC
Electronics Inc., +1-408-588-6620, or
denise_garibaldi@el.nec.com; or Japan, Daniel Mathieson of NEC
Corporation, +81-3-3798-6511, or d-mathieson@bu.jp.nec.com
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