NEC launches industry's first melody chip with MP3 and AAC playback support.

NEC Electronics Corporation and its subsidiaries in the United States and Europe, NEC Electronics America, Inc. and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, announced the launch of three single-chip melody LSI solutions that offer superior sound technology for mobile phones. The product line-up consists of the uPD9993 chip, which offers 64 polyphonic tones and is the first LSI device to support MP3 and advanced audio coding (AAC) playback; the uPD9996 chip for low-end monaural (single-speaker) mobile phones, which is pin-compatible with the NEC Electronics uPD9990/ 1/2 series of melody solutions; and the uPD9995 chip, a smallest-in-class monaural chip first introduced in September 2003.

The uPD9993 chip incorporates a digital signal processor (DSP) core for MP3 and AAC decoding, which enables playback of audio files in high-quality MP3 and AAC formats in addition to conventional musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) format. Incorporating a DSP core eliminates the need for an additional LSI chip to support these functions. The uPD9993 chip also employs leading surround sound from DiMAGIC's Adaptive Surround Technology*, which processes two audio channels to produce five channels of stereo-wide surround sound. These features significantly enhance the sound quality in mobile phones, allowing users listening through headphones to enjoy music stored in their phones at CD quality, or to use songs instead of ring tones to indicate an incoming call.

The uPD9996 chip provides specialized monaural (single-speaker) functions while eliminating high-end functions such as surround sound and external digital input/output (I/O) to offer an affordable sound synthesizer solution. The uPD9996 chip has a pin layout compatible with the NEC Electronics uPD9990/1/2 melody chips, which enables manufacturers to develop low-end mobile phones based on their existing uPD9990/1/2 designs.

The uPD9995 offers monaural playback in a smallest-in-class package of 4.38 . 4.38 millimeters (mm). An optimized design configuration has reduced the pin count to 48, resulting in a 50 percent smaller package that enables greater flexibility in mobile phone design and reduces bill-of-materials costs for manufacturers.

"Today, as mobile phones become increasingly advanced, many consumers want to enjoy high-quality sound using their phones as audio playback units," said Masakazu Yamashina, general manager, Mobile Systems Division, NEC Electronics Corporation. "NEC Electronics' latest melody solutions are designed to meet this demand, and we intend to continue expanding our line-up of products and support for this growing market."

Since entering the market for mobile phone melody solutions in August 2003, NEC Electronics has used the technology of FueTrek, a leading company in the field of sound synthesis. NEC Electronics will continue to provide a wide range of development tools, including evaluation boards and evaluation software.

Samples of the uPD9993, uPD9995 and uPD9996 chips are available now. The unit price for uPD9993 samples is US$15, and the unit price for uPD9996 and uPD9995 samples is US$5 each. Volume production is scheduled to start in November 2004, and combined production for all three models is expected to reach two million units per month by March 2005. Pricing and availability are subject to change.