Renesas Technology Releases SDK Based on Open Interface North America's SOUNDabout® for Use in Bluetooth® Audio Products

Business Wire, May 4, 2007

Open Interface's SOUNDabout[R] Software Solution to Enable Low-Cost Implementation and High Sound Quality

SEATTLE -- Open Interface North America (OINA) today announced the adoption and integration of its SOUNDabout Suite by Japan's Renesas Technology Corp., a world leader in intelligent chip solutions.

Renesas Technology Corp. will release the SOUNDabout[R] Suite, a software development kit (SDK) for use with its 32-bit SuperH[TM] Family SH-4A, SH-2A, and SH3-DSP microprocessors. SOUNDabout will enable the development of CD-quality Bluetooth wireless audio products and will be available in Japan beginning May 2007.

"Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world's leading semiconductor companies. We are thrilled to partner with this industry leader to provide an advanced turnkey Bluetooth audio solution," says Tom Nault, CEO of Open Interface North America. "The Renesas implementation of the SOUNDabout solution comes in direct response to an increasing market demand for continued sound quality improvement in a variety of consumer electronics products."

Renesas adopted the SOUNDabout Suite featuring OINA's SOUNDabout audio software solution to further enhance its SuperH Family of processors, enabling Renesas to provide solutions to address a variety of needs relating to the application of Bluetooth technology.

"Using Renesas' Bluetooth system-on-chip solutions with the BLUEmagic[R] Bluetooth protocol stack and SOUNDabout Suite, customers can expect shorter development times and faster time to market for Bluetooth audio applications," said Greg Burns, CTO of Open Interface North America. "Renesas will initially be packaging SDK's for the SuperH family of processors but will be expanding the offering into the SH, H8, and M16 microprocessor families."

Integration of Open Interface North America's SOUNDabout Suite provides Renesas with the following benefits and capabilities:

1) CD-Quality Sound

The Bluetooth specification stipulates SBC (Subband Codec) as the standard audio coding method. Use of SOUNDabout eSBC[TM] (enhance Subband Codec) included in the SOUNDabout Suite enables the achievement of CD-quality sound while maintaining SBC compatibility.

2) Lower power consumption and costs

BLUEmagic 3.0 and SOUNDabout eSBC included in the SOUNDabout Suite have been developed for embedded systems, minimizing CPU load and reducing power consumption in handheld consumer electronic devices.

The Bluetooth specification offers two optional CODECS for improving sound quality - AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and ATRAC (Advanced Transform Acoustic Coding). However, AAC and ATRAC processing imposes a heavy load on the CPU, requiring the use of a high-performance microprocessor. In contrast, SOUNDabout eSBC imposes a significantly smaller CPU load, enabling CD-quality sound to be achieved using an inexpensive microprocessor, which results in lower-cost end products.

3) Faster time-to-market

An HCI (Host Controller Interface) sample driver program, audio sample driver program, and sample programs corresponding to profiles established by the Bluetooth SIG are provided, together with the source code for individual Renesas products. These sample programs will help to shorten manufacturers' product development times.

Renesas Technology intends to extend the scope of the SOUNDabout Suite software development kit to other Renesas microprocessors, and will continue to expand its lineup of Bluetooth compatible products helping users' product development.

About Open Interface North America

Open Interface North America, based in Seattle, Washington, is a pioneer in Bluetooth technology and one of the first associate members of the Bluetooth SIG. The company is a premier provider of embedded software enabling Bluetooth wireless technology. Its Bluetooth software products and application solutions are used by many major companies worldwide. For more information, visit www.oi-us.com.

About Renesas Technology Corp.

Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (Audio Visual) markets and the world's No.1 supplier of microcontrollers. It is also a leading provider of LCD Driver ICs, Smart Card microcontrollers, RF-ICs, High Power Amplifiers, Mixed Signal ICs, System-on-Chip (SoC), System-in-Package (SiP) and more. Established in 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) (NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503), Renesas Technology achieved consolidated revenue of 906 billion JPY in FY2005 (end of March 2006). Renesas Technology is based in Tokyo, Japan and has a global network of manufacturing, design and sales operations in around 20 countries with about 26,200 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit http://www.renesas.com.

eSBC, SOUNDabout, and BLUEmagic are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Interface North America. Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc., U.S.A. SuperH is a trademark of Renesas Technology. All other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.