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STMicroelectronics Sampling Nomadik(TM) Multimedia Application Processor Chips to Lead Customers

Posted on: Thursday, 4 December 2003, 06:00 CST

GENEVA, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics today announced that the company is delivering samples and development boards to customers for the STn8800, the first Nomadik multimedia application processor chip. These parts were demonstrated in public recently at the CEATEC exhibition in Japan and will be featured in demos at the ST booth at the CDMA Congress in Florida, December 8-12, 2003. The STn8800 is fabricated in 130nm technology on 300mm (12") wafers.

Nomadik multimedia processor chips enable portable terminals such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants to play music, take pictures, record video, and host two-way visual communication in real time. Thanks to an innovative architecture based on smart accelerators, they deliver best-in-class video quality while minimizing power consumption and cost.

"In developing the Nomadik family we have built on ST's unsurpassed experience in digital video and audio coding technology," said Guy Lauvergeon, General Manager of the company's Multimedia Platform Unit. "Now our customers can see the fruits of this experience watching the evaluation device decode simultaneously both digital audio and 30 frames-per-second VGA video, while providing the industry's lowest power consumption for mobile applications."

Nomadik processor chips include interfaces for CMOS image sensors, wireless connectivity, smart cards and other peripherals, becoming the "multimedia hub" of the terminal, simplifying design. A broad range supplier, STMicroelectronics also supplies all of these peripheral functions along with memories.

ST's Nomadik application processor architecture is scalable, allowing the addition of new features in future implementations and also to be implemented in reduced feature-set versions. The next version, scheduled for release in the first half of 2004, will include a new selection of digital audio and video CODECs plus enhanced security support.

Nomadik application processors will all be designed to be compliant with open standards now being developed by the MIPI Alliance, created in July 2003 to standardize hardware and software interfaces for application processors. STMicroelectronics is one of the four founding members of the MIPI Alliance, which was created in response to broad interest in the earlier OMAPI initiative launched by STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments in December 2002.

About the Nomadik Processor Family

ST's Nomadik multimedia application processor family offers ultra-low power consumption, which is facilitated by the optimal partitioning of the chip between hardware and software, combined with ST's low-power CMOS technology and low-power design know-how. This translates into longer battery operation for consumers and performance scalability for product manufacturers.

Nomadik processor chips are based on the combination of an ARM926EJ CPU core together with programmable 'smart accelerators' that operate independently and concurrently to handle the key video and audio coding functions, including pre/post-processing. This distributed processing approach simplifies software development because developers typically need to write code only for the CPU. In addition, there is much more headroom for them to add new software applications in the future since multimedia functions are not typically executed on the main processor.

Nomadik processors build on ST's legacy of success and proven expertise in the digital multimedia segment. A pioneer in MPEG video decoding, ST has always been the leading producer of MPEG decoder chips for set top boxes. The company is also a leading supplier of DSP-based audio products and the number one vendor of digital radio receiver chips. Thanks to ST's broad product portfolio, the Nomadik architecture leverages a wide range of complementary functions such as CMOS imagers, smart card ICs, Flash memories, biometric verification chips, MEMS, Bluetooth radio chips, and data storage solutions

ST's Nomadik architecture supports the popular operating systems for mobile devices, including Symbian OS, Microsoft WinCE and Linux. A comprehensive Nomadik tools environment is provided for software development. The Nomadik architecture is highly scalable in terms of both computational power and smart accelerators, allowing easy upgrades to add more features and easy feature-reduction for simpler price-sensitive products.

The programmable audio smart-accelerator implements the main industry-standard digital audio encoders and decoders including MP3, SBC, MPEG2-Layer II, AAC, and many others. The programmable video smart accelerator supports H.263 and MPEG-4 CODECs using an extremely optimized ST proprietary technology. The new H26L (H.264) standard will also be available in future Nomadik implementations.

Nomadik offers a standard baseband modem interface to provide modem independence for mobile phone applications. As with the baseband modem, a simple interface supports communication with wireless PAN (Bluetooth), and wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g), and position location (GPS) chipsets from ST and other manufacturers. This flexibility gives manufacturers the freedom to choose their own mix of connectivity solutions across their product line.

A leading supplier of semiconductor devices to the mobile industry, STMicroelectronics is the only microelectronics company offering a complete range of products for mobile terminals. This product range includes baseband processors, power management chips, RF devices, display drivers, Flash memories, fingerprint sensors, multimedia processors, CMOS image sensors, MEMS acceleration sensors, and GPS chipsets. For more information, http://www.st.com/nomadik

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2002, the Company's net revenues were $6.32 billion and net earnings were $429.4 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com/.

Trademarks: Nomadik is a registered trademark of STMicroelectronics; OMAPI is a jointly held trademark of STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. MIPI is a trademark of the MIPI Alliance.

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