S-MOS Systems and Mitsubishi announce second sourcing agreement for Mitsubishi's 3D-RAM frame buffer memory

Business Wire, May 20, 1997

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1997--In response to tremendous demand, the Electronic Device Group of Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc., and S-MOS Systems Inc., the semiconductor affiliate of Seiko Epson Corporation, announced today a licensing agreement through which S-MOS Systems will second source Mitsubishi's 3D-RAM frame buffer memory for advanced personal computer and workstation 3-D graphics applications.

S-MOS Systems will market its licensed version of Mitsubishi's 3D-RAM -- which will be equivalent to the 3D-RAM3 product announced by Mitsubishi Electronics America in August 1996 -- under the product number SDM10092. The SDM10092 will be available in a 128-pin QFP and begin sampling during the third quarter of 1997. Mitsubishi Electronics America will continue to market 3D-RAM3 under the M5M410092B series product number.

"We believe that 3D-RAM frame buffer memory offers an innovative approach to the read-modify-write overhead condition inherent with traditional graphics memories," said Mike Polen, marketing manager for microcontrollers and memories at S-MOS Systems. "We see our involvement in second sourcing 3D-RAM as an extension of our commitment to provide an extensive array of products for all aspects of the computer market."

"Mitsubishi sees this new licensing agreement as the key element in its `Continuity of Supply Program,'" said Steve Forman, product manager for application-specific memory products at Mitsubishi Electronics America, "to ensure availability of the 3D-RAM frame buffer memory for its worldwide customer base."

About 3D-RAM

The first-generation 3D-RAM, originally announced in July 1994 at Siggraph, packs a wealth of 3D graphics functions on a single integrated circuit, including four banks of synchronous DRAM, 2Kbits of on-chip SRAM plus arithmetic logic unit (ALU). The fully OpenGL(TM)-compliant ALU eliminates the need for read-modify-write (RMW) operations between the rendering controller and 3D-RAM. It also eliminates the duplication of logic in the rendering controller. The result is a true "write-only" interface for all the blending, stencil and 16 raster operations described in the OpenGL specification.

Mitsubishi's 3D-RAM3, the third version of 3D-RAM announced in August 1996, was designed to provide realistic 3-D graphics on the PC platform via a modified arithmetic logic unit (ALU) that fully supports all OpenGL blending modes and stencil tests, as well as two additional 16-bit color modes (4-4-4-4 and 5-6-5). 3D-RAM3 has approximately 10 times the performance of video RAM (VRAM).

About S-MOS Systems and Seiko Epson

S-MOS Systems Inc., designs, develops and markets subsystems, cards, graphics ICs and ASICs for a multitude of market segments. The company also offers contract manufacturing services through corporate affiliate Seiko Epson Corporation in Japan.

S-MOS Systems was founded in 1983 and is privately held.

About Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Electronics America

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation pioneered the integration of DRAM, SRAM, and logic on the same piece of silicon with its successful 3D-RAM and Cached DRAM application-specific memories. The company markets its application-specific memory products in North America through the Electronic Device Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and its North American affiliate, Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc., are world-class suppliers of semiconductors and electronic products for computers, communications and visual applications. Mitsubishi combines its systems-level expertise and high-level silicon process technology to provide chip, chipset and system-on-a-chip solutions. The company offers an extensive range of semiconductor-based products in the North American marketplace, including microcontrollers and microprocessors, ASICs, memory ICs, optoelectronic products, microwave GaAs FETs, MPEG codecs and flat-panel displays. -0-

Note to Editors: OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc.

CONTACT: Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc.

John Garner, 408/774-3191

garner_john@edg.mea.com

or

The Horn Group (for Mitsubishi)

Kathleen O'Boyle, 415/579-6455

koboyle@horngroup.com

or

S-MOS Systems Inc.

Robert Wong, 408/922-0200

robert_wong@smos.com

or

Gelphman Associates (for S-MOS Systems)

Rob Gelphman, 408/451-8420

gelphman@ix.netcom.com