NEC Electronics Expands All Flash Lineup with Six New Microcontrollers for Inverter Control

KAWASAKI, Japan, DUESSELDORF, Germany, SANTA CLARA, Calif., January 31, 2007 -- NEC Electronics today announced the availability of six new microcontrollers (MCUs) for inverter control systems, designed for advanced motor control applications in products such as air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines. The new devices feature high performance with advanced control functions for more precise motor control, as well as integration of formerly discrete components to help lower costs. The new offering includes four 100-pin V850E/IG3 MCUs and two 80-pin V850E/IF3 MCUs.

Compared to the company’s previous generation of inverter control MCUs, the devices feature a four-fold increase in resolution of the A/D converter that detects motor rotation (4,096 discrete values,12 bits) and an approximately six-fold increase in gain ratio—to 13 steps—of the operational amplifier (op amp) that adjusts the level of motor status signals. The comparator that protects a system from motor faults can detect over-voltages, and also measure under-voltage with respect to a reference level. Components that normally would have to be connected externally—including a voltage-generating regulator IC, a reset IC to initialize the microcontroller when it is powered on and a low-voltage indicator (LVI) circuit to detect low voltage—are integrated on chip. With their enhanced performance and high integration, these new devices allow designers to achieve more precise inverter control, at lower costs and with fewer parts.

With the addition of these new devices, NEC Electronics now offers a comprehensive lineup of 214 All Flash microcontrollers, ranging from compact and economical 8-bit devices to high-performance 32-bit models. Combined sales of NEC Electronics’ 8-bit 78K0 MCUs (including mask ROM devices) and 16-bit 78K0R MCUs are expected to reach 100 billion yen in fiscal year 2009. Sales of NEC Electronics’ 32-bit V850 microcontrollers are expected to reach the 100 billion yen mark in fiscal year 2008.

Inverter control is widely used in the motors of large household appliances such as air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators. Manufacturers of these products are under intense pressure to cut costs even as they deliver more sophisticated appliances, creating a need for components that can enable more precise motor control at lower development costs. These latest offerings from NEC Electronics are designed to do just that, and will reduce the development burden on appliance manufacturers and benefit consumers by enabling more sophisticated, eco-friendly products.

NEC Electronics’ 32-bit V850/Ix3 microcontrollers use SuperFlash® technology licensed from Silicon Storage Technology, Inc.

Availability
Samples of the V850E/IG3 are available now. Volume production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2007. Monthly production is expected to reach approximately 500,000 units within one year. Availability is subject to change.

Further product specification can be found in the attached addendum. More information about NEC Electronics’ microcontroller lineup, can be found at http://www.necel.com/micro/en/product/motor.html.

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 platform solutions for a wide range of customer applications. NEC Electronics Corporation has 24 subsidiaries worldwide including NEC Electronics America, Inc. (www.am.necel.com) and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH (www.eu.necel.com). For additional information about NEC Electronics worldwide, visit www.necel.com.

About Sunrise

Sunrise Electronics is the only dedicated franchised distributor in the UK electronics market and provides a high level of technical design support to customers for the whole range of NEC semiconductor products including microprocessors, microcontrollers and ASICs as well as memory and colour LCD panels. The field sales team is technically qualified to ensure total support from design concept through to purchasing.

Sunrise is a direct ship distributor. The majority of shipments are delivered directly to customers from NEC’s own ISO9000 warehouse. This ensures reduced handling, correct packaging; especially for fine pitch surface mount devices requiring vacuum sealing, factory fresh product and timely deliveries.