SGS-THOMSON and Hitachi to Jointly Develop the NEXT Generation SuperH Microprocessors.TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 1997--Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :HIT) and SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics (NYSE:STM (Scanning Tunneling Microscope) A microscope that can image down to the atomic level. An STM uses a piezoelectric tube with a tiny sharp tip at the end that is moved within nanometers of the object being sampled. ) today announced an agreement in principle to join forces and collaborate on the development of next-generation SuperH(TM) microprocessors (Hitachi's SH-5/SGS-THOMSON's ST50) for consumer electronics and multimedia applications. The two companies will together develop the new 64-bit SH-5/ST50 series based upon Hitachi's original SuperH architecture and SGS- THOMSON's know-how in 64-bit microprocessors, for interactive set- top boxes (STBs), digital video products, car multimedia systems and other consumer-oriented products. The agreement also allows SGS-THOMSON to have access -- through specific licenses -- to Hitachi's SH-3 and SH-4 series. By combining their efforts, the two companies' goal is to deliver high-performance, low-cost processors to the market more quickly than would have been possible working alone and create an architectural standard for consumer multimedia systems. The architecture from the joint development effort is expected to be disclosed in 1998. SGS-THOMSON and Hitachi have already achieved considerable success in the embedded microcontrollers and microprocessors market with their own product families. Hitachi's products have been widely adopted for consumer and industrial products such as game consoles, audio and video equipment, auto navigation and personal information devices, while those of SGS-THOMSON are being used extensively in automotive, STB See set-top box. STB - set-top box , and global positioning by satellite (GPS) navigation systems. Speaking on the agreement, Dr. Tsugio Makimoto, Senior Executive Managing Director of Hitachi, said, "Joining Hitachi's RISC RISC in full Reduced Instruction Set Computing Computer architecture that uses a limited number of instructions. RISC became popular in microprocessors in the 1980s. technology and SGS-THOMSON's successful consumer technology will definitely create the next generation of 64-bit SH-5/ST50 microprocessor, for multimedia applications. The collaboration will provide more flexibility, more performance and less cost for customers in the nomadic See nomadic computing. age. We are very pleased to be working closely with SGS-THOMSON. The strengthening of our alliance will also further improve the position of the SuperH as the worlds leading RISC processors." Pasquale Pistorio, President and Chief Executive Officer of SGS- THOMSON, said, "There is a clear and growing need for very high performance, cost-effective processors for consumer applications and this joint effort will help to meet that demand. By collaborating we aim to establish an industry standard processor for embedded systems Embedded systems Computer systems that cannot be programmed by the user because they are preprogrammed for a specific task and are buried within the equipment they serve. , just as the x86 processor family is the industry standard for PCs. Our customers will further benefit from having a wider range of hardware and software products and a second source. SGS-THOMSON will also benefit as this agreement will help us to maintain our leadership in the digital consumer market." Both companies have successfully established proprietary processors in the market, Hitachi with its H8, H8S and SuperH series and SGS-THOMSON with its ST6, ST7, ST9, ST10, and ST20 microcontrollers. Both companies have an enormous range of peripherals that can be integrated with their processor cores to offer "System on a chip" solutions to their customers. The software expertise of the two companies will be used to create a comprehensive range of software development tools for reducing time to market and extensive libraries of application software for product differentiation Product Differentiation A source of competitive advantage that depends on producing some item that is regarded to have unique and valuable characteristics. . Editor's Note Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. About the SuperH RISC architecture The SuperH family of high-performance, low-power RISC microprocessors is used extensively in cost-sensitive peronal access applications such as mobile information and communication devices, car navigation See GPS. systems and digital cameras. The SH-3 series includes the leading processors supporting the Windows(R) CE operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. released last year by Microsoft Corp. The recently introduced SH-4 series, featuring the industry's highest-performance embedded processor (360 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) The execution speed of a computer. For example, .5 MIPS is 500,000 instructions per second; 100 MIPS is a hundred million instructions per second. at 200 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. ), also supports Windows CE. Hitachi continues to expand the series of SuperH microprocessors to meet the diverse needs of customers, and the SuperH architecture already has over 2,000 design wins worldwide. About the ST6, ST7, ST9, ST10 and ST20 SGS-THOMSON has a range of 8-bit micros (ST6, ST7 and ST9) that are designed for consumer applications such as wite wite n. Scots Blame; fault. [Middle English, from Old English w  te, penalty; see weid- in Indo-European roots.] goods, monitors and analog set top boxes. The 16-bit ST10 offers high performance embedded cores for applications such as hard disk drives and engine management. The ST20 is a family of 32 bit products for consumer and automotive applications and is used in the digital set top boxes recently announced by BSkyB. Third party software for the ST10 and ST20 products include pSOS from ISI ISI International Sensitivity Index, see there and VxWorks from Windriver Systems. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1996 (ending March 31, 1997) consolidated sales of 8,523 billion Japanese Yen ($68.7 billion(a)). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit its Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp. About SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics is a global independent semiconductor company, with strong European roots, listed on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. (NYSE:STM) and on the Bourse bourse (b  rs), term applied to a European stock exchange. The first international bourse was established in Antwerp in the 16th cent. de Paris. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) and discrete devices used in wide variety of microelectronics applications, including telecommunications system, computer system, consumer products and industrial automation and control system. For the year 1996, the company had revenues of $4.12 billion and net earnings of $625 million. Further information on SGS-THOMSON can be found at http://www.st.com. (a) At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar. SuperH is a trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: Hitachi America Ltd. Terry Kubo, 914/333-2902 e-mail: tatsuya.kubo@hainy.hitachi.com or Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. David Herron, 650/244-7193 e-mail: david.herron@hsa.hitachi.com or SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics J.P. Rossomme 781/259-2534 e-mail: rossommej@stm.com |
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