NEC Targets Emerging Windows CE Market

Electronic News, Oct 12, 1998

Supporting the VR4121 processor, NEC also offers the VRC4171A companion chip for additional peripheral capabilities such as color LCD graphics and PC Card control.

The VR4121 processor, available in a 224-pin FPBGA package, will sample in 4Q98 with volume production scheduled for 1Q99. Pricing is expected to be $25 per unit in 10,000-unit quantities. For the VRC4171A companion chip, packaging is in a 208-pin LQFP and is currently available. It is priced at $9 per unit in 10,000-unit quantities.

The VR4121 CPU on-chip peripheral features include: a memory controller that supports SDRAM, a fast infrared (FIR) IrDA standard interface that performs wireless communication at speeds of 0.5-megabits per second (Mbps) up to 4 Mbps, a 10-bit A/D converter, and a 10-bit D/A converter that supports audio output.

The device also includes a high-speed 16550 serial interface, a separate debugging port, a 96-key keyboard controller, a light-emitting diode (LED) controller and a touch panel controller. Together, these features are claimed to lower overall product/system cost by reducing power requirements and space, both of which are essential for handheld consumer applications.

"Microsoft applauds NEC Electronics' continued support of the Windows CE platform with its announcement of the VR4121 microprocessor which supports Windows CE, Handheld PC Pro Edition," said Harel Kodesh, VP, Consumer Appliance Group, Microsoft. "Users will benefit from the operating system's enhanced capabilities as well as from the high-performance, low-power consumption of the VR4121 CPU."

NEC has heavily targeted the Windows CE platform for the Handheld PC with its VR Series 64-bit RISC CPUS. These processors have been designed into Casio's Cassiopeia E-10 Palm PC, Everex's Freestyle Palm PC and NEC's MobilePro 750C, Network Computing Device's ThinSTAR Windows-based terminal and Radiant Systems' MediaClient-CE point-of-sale terminal.

Devices such as palm-size, handheld and micro notebook PCs, along with custom vertical market portables are ideal applications for the VR4121 processor and VRC4171A companion chip. Their price/performance is also an attraction for point-of-sale (POS) terminals, global positioning systems, home entertainment appliances and other consumer applications.

Prepared for the next-generation portable market, NEC's VR4121 CPU will be used in NEC Computer System Division's two new, recently announced MobilePro handheld products. These products demand the high performance and low power consumption of the VR4121 processor to provide users with the benefits of quick E-mail and Internet access in addition to other advanced features.

Built using 0.25-micron technology, the VR4121 device combines NEC's VR4120 core with peripherals and targets the growing consumer market of Windows CE-based portable embedded applications. The integrated processor includes a 16-kilobyte (KB) instruction cache and 8KB data cache, runs at 131MHz and requires less than 300 milliwatts (mW) of power while providing a claimed 174 million instructions per second (MIPS), while the 168MHz version provides 224 MIPS.

Using the MIPS16 Application Specific Extension (ASE), the VR4121 processor incorporates 16-bit long instructions along with conventional 32-bit long instructions that allow compact code size, resulting in lower memory requirement and thus lowering overall system cost.

Integrated on the new VR4121 CPU is a fast single-cycle, multiply-and-accumulation (MAC) instruction that offers designers the flexibility of a digital signal processor (DSP), as well as data and fax modem capabilities, using PC-TEL's HSP (host signal processing) soft modem technology.

Designed for NEC's VR4100 family of MIPS RISC microprocessors, the single-chip VRC4171A device adds color LCD graphics and PC Card control capability, creating an ideal combination for Windows CE-based and other handheld products. Ideal for battery-powered designs, the VRC4171A device operates at 3.3V with a typical power consumption of 250mW and offers up to four programmable GPIO pins for communication with outside peripherals.