NEC Electronics Demonstrates Advanced, High-Speed Interconnect Technologies at Intel Developer Forum 2002

NEC's SerDes, PCI Express, Serial ATA and USB 2.0 IP Cores Enable Next-Generation Interface Support for PC, Server and Storage Applications Product Demonstrations at the NEC Booth #424 in the San Jose Convention Center

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, SAN JOSE, Calif., September 9, 2002 – NEC Electronics Inc. today illustrated its position as a leading provider of advanced, high-speed interface technologies by demonstrating its latest interconnect intellectual property (IP) cores and products at Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2002. The demonstrated technologies include a prototype 5-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) serializer/deserializer (SerDes) IP core, PCI Expres™ revision 1.0-compliant IP cores, a prototype high-speed Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) IP core and a USB 2.0 bus-powered bridge chip. NEC Electronics is making these technology demonstrations in its booth #424 during exhibit hours at the Intel Developer Forum, running from September 9 to September 12 at the San Jose Convention Center.

"NEC is committed to becoming a global provider of high-speed interface technologies to the PC, server, network storage and communications markets. To this end, we have developed a high-speed SerDes technology that we can leverage to support new interface standards such as

PCI Express, Serial ATA and USB 2.0, as well as other global standards such as SONET, XAUI and InfiniBand®," said Hiroshi Nakashiba, vice president and general manager, Broadband LSI business unit, NEC Electronics Inc. "Furthermore, NEC has the process, software and design expertise required to implement these technologies in the highly integrated system-on-chip solutions that our customers need to deliver next-generation products to their target markets."

NEC's High-Speed Interface Technology Demonstrations at Intel Developer Forum

PCI Express IP Cores

Formerly known as 3GIO, PCI Express is a third-generation, scalable, I/O (input/output) architecture for use in PC, server and storage area network (SAN) applications. As PC and server CPUs increase in speed, technologies like PCI Express are needed to ensure that interfaces will not create system performance bottlenecks. NEC's PCI Express IP, a PCI Express solution, delivers higher bandwidth than existing PCI and PCI-X solutions, supporting up to 2.5 Gbps per lane, per direction. Additionally, the NEC PCI Express IP core offers support for multiple lane x1, x4, x8 and so forth. The NEC PCI Express-compliant IP cores are expected to be available in early 2003.

Prototype High-Speed Serial ATA IP Core

Serial ATA is the latest generation of the storage market's interface specification and provides the high-bandwidth performance required by hard disk drive and ATA redundant array of independent disk (RAID) systems. The NEC Serial ATA IP core is fully compliant with current Serial ATA specifications and capable of operating up to 3 Gbps. It is designed for easy migration to serially attached SCSI (small computer system interface) or SAS specifications, which is a strong candidate to be the interconnect specification of choice for future network attached storage (NAS) and SAN applications. NECÕs Serial ATA IP core is expected to be available during second half of 2003.

USB 2.0 Bus-Powered Bridge Controller

NEC produced the industry's first USB 2.0-certified devices for use in PC and PC peripheral applications. The USB 2.0 specification supports data rates of up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps), as well as the full- and low-speed rates supported under the USB 1.1 specification. The NEC USB 2.0 bus-powered bridge chip demonstrated at IDF is available now.

Prototype 5-Gbps SerDes IP Core

NEC's prototype SerDes interface test chip is a showcase for the company's leadership in the high-speed interface market. Manufactured in NECÕs UX4 process, a 0.15-micron CMOS technology node, the test chip serves as the interface between the company's new interface IP cores and the switch fabric in customer designs. Currently, this IP core is in a prototype-only stage and is being demonstrated at Intel Developer Forum as evidence of NECÕs capabilities for this technology.

About NEC Electronics Inc.
NEC Electronics Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is one of the leading developers, manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor products in the United States. Committed to meeting customersÕ cost, performance and time-to-market requirements, the company offers solutions ranging from standard products, including electron components, 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 local manufacturing facility in Roseville, Calif., and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company, NEC Corp. (NASDAQ: NIPNY). For more information about products offered by NEC Electronics Inc., visit the NEC Electronics website at http://www.necel.com.

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. InfiniBand is a registered trademark of the InfiniBand Trade Association. PCI Express is a trademark of the PCI-SIG. #11025