Sharp Microelectronics Launches BlueStreak Line of Highly Integrated MCUs and SoCs; First 32-bit SoC, the LH79520, Ships to Customers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Embedded Systems Conference 2002

Booth Number 1826

SAN FRANCISCO & CAMAS, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2002

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), a U.S.-based division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, announces the launch of its 8, 16/32 and 32- bit microcontroller (MCU) and System-on-Chip (SoC) product line at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in San Francisco.

In addition, SMA is introducing the BlueStreak(TM) name for its family of MCU and SoC products specifically targeted at the mobile/multimedia, home/office automation and industrial markets.

Advances in product development, mass production release and the completion of the product family all represent a significant milestone for Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan, which only last year designated its Camas-based division the first MCU/SoC design center outside of Japan.

"Sharp made a significant decision in 2001 to designate SMA as the Global Design Center for all of Sharp's MCU/SoC products, allowing us to design product families based primarily on popular ARM cores for our 16/32 and 32-bit products and the 8051 E-Warp core for our 8-bit products," said Terry Thomas, SMA's director of MCU/SoC Business Unit. "SMA's engineering and applications expertise in a wide range of components gives us a unique opportunity to offer highly integrated solutions on a single chip, which we have demonstrated over the past year with our first nine designs."

Sharp will showcase nine highly integrated designs from the BlueStreak line at booth 1826 at ESC, March 13-15, 2002 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Highlights at the booth will include the LH79520, Sharp's first 32-bit SoC that begins mass production release this month. In addition, SMA will introduce a brand new SoC design combining a hardware JIT Java Compiler with the ARM922T(TM) core. Sharp is introducing the LH7A405 for the first time at ESC. Details on this design were made public today in a separate announcement available at www.sharpsma.com.

In addition, Sharp is announcing the addition of a highly integrated line of16/32-bit MCUs to the BlueStreak family today at ESC. These new 16/32-bit MCUs with LCD controllers are ideal for applications in industrial control, white goods, smart appliances, marine applications, organizers and low end PDAs. Today's announcement, with more details on this product family, is also available at www.sharpsma.com.

All of Sharp's Bluestreak products are designed to meet specific engineering design challenges by offering a high level of integration to maximize performance and reduce power consumption. SMA is committed to offer "system-level" MCU/SoC products to help customers reduce component count, board space and power requirements.

In order to provide full engineering support to customers and help accelerate their time-to-market, Sharp has based its designs on popular CPU cores including the 8051 E-Warp, ARM720T(TM) and the ARM922T. Sharp has also formed relationships with Lineo and BSQUARE to provide Linux(R) and Microsoft(R) Windows(R) CE ports customized for their 32-bit parts, allowing customers to rapidly develop solutions.

About Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas

Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA), Camas, Washington, is a U.S.-based company and a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation which is a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan. Sharp is a worldwide developer of core digital technologies that are playing an integral role in shaping the next generation of electronic products for consumer and business needs. SMA offers breakthrough memory, LCD, opto, CCD, RF/IR, microcomputer and system-on-chip components, along with packaging and integration skills that help design engineers throughout North and South America bring their ambitious ideas to market. SMA is dedicated to improving people's lives through the use of advanced technology and a commitment to innovation, quality, value and design.

Note: All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

BlueStreak(TM) is a trademark of Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA). ARM720T(TM) and ARM922T(TM) are trademarks of Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) Ltd. M8051 E-Warp is a trademark of Mentor Graphics.