VaST and NEC Electronics America Develop Models of V850-Based Microcontrollers for Leading Automotive Customers

Expanded Product Offering Drives Automotive Electronics Virtualization

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- March 17, 2008 -- VaST Systems, the leader in electronics virtualization, and NEC Electronics America, Inc., a leading provider of semiconductor solutions in the Americas, today announced the availability and development of virtual models of NEC Electronics’ 32-bit V850™-based microcontroller units (MCUs). VaST models of V850-based products are production-proven at leading OEMs and tier-1 suppliers in Japan and North America.

The new offering involves NEC Electronics’ V850ES/Fx3™ MCUs for automotive body applications and the V850ES/Rx3™ MCUs for safety control, all of which are based on NEC Electronics’ V850 processor core. The V850ES/Fx3 lineup is suitable for body controllers, seat and door modules, HVAC systems, and anti-theft mechanisms, among other body applications. In addition, the V850ES/Rx3 MCUs are ideal for intelligent airbag systems. VaST solutions help manage escalating system design complexity and are used by automotive suppliers and OEMs for architecture design and software development.

“NEC Electronics’ consistent leadership in the automotive sector has been demonstrated by our customers’ success using our leading-edge products,” said Jim Trent, associate vice president and general manager, automotive strategic business unit, NEC Electronics America. “For customers focused on early validation, VaST solutions provide the right tools to achieve that success.”

“Our customers’ success in applying virtualization to their design process is driving our portfolio expansion into virtual models of automotive MCUs. Our work with NEC Electronics America on V850-based MCU products demonstrates how the collaboration between our two companies resulted in more complete solutions that better meet the needs of our customers,” said Jeff Roane, vice president of marketing at VaST.

More information about NEC Electronics MCUs can be found at www.am.necel.com/micro/.

About VaST

VaST drives electronics virtualization. VaST fundamentally changes the electronics industry by breaking the dependency on hardware prototypes. With VaST, electronics companies develop virtual system prototypes — timing-accurate, high-speed simulation models of their electronic systems — for use in design and supply chain enablement. Using virtualization, customers develop software before hardware and enable early software development by ecosystem partners that cuts time to market by 8 months or more.

VaST’s customers include worldwide leaders in automotive, consumer, and wireless markets. VaST is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with sales and support offices worldwide.

About NEC Electronics America, Inc.

NEC Electronics America, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a leading provider of semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the broadband and communications markets; system solutions for the mobile, PC, automotive and digital consumer markets; and multi-market solutions for a wide range of consumer applications. NEC Electronics America offers local manufacturing in Roseville, California, and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company. In the Americas, NEC Electronics America markets and sells industrial-type active-matrix LCD modules from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies. More information about the products offered by NEC Electronics America can be found at http://www.am.necel.com.