Renesas Technology to Introduce HDMI Technology Through Licensing from Silicon Image

TOKYO and SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 1, 2005 — Renesas Technology Corp. today announced that it has agreed to license HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface*¹ core IP (intellectual property) from Silicon Image, Inc. HDMI has become the standard high speed digital video and audio interface between consumer electronics devices. By combining Renesas’ expertise in high-speed data transfer, content protection and low–power consumption technology with the HDMI technology from Silicon Image, Renesas Technology plans to create new semiconductor products that will enable high-speed transfer of high-definition video data between consumer electronics devices such as HDTVs, DVD players, digital camcorders and set-top boxes.

HDMI is an extension of the DVI*² digital data transfer standard, which enables transmission of data including higher quality video and audio content. Previous standards for data transfer between consumer electronics devices required the use of separate cables for video, audio, and control signals. HDMI allows these signals to be transferred over a single cable with a small, low cost connector, greatly simplifying wiring connections. In addition, HDMI includes support for HDCP,*³ an encryption technology for safeguarding copyright material by preventing unauthorized copying. The copy protection capability is expected to contribute to a steady expansion in the distribution of high-definition video content such as movies. As more and more multimedia devices are now equipped with HDMI connectors, manufacturers of semiconductor devices are seeing a growing demand for semiconductor products supporting HDMI.

“Renesas Technology is focusing on high-speed data communication technology because it is an important element in realizing a ubiquitous networking society,” said Kazutami Arimoto, Deputy General Manager of Renesas Technology’s System Core Technology Division. “We have developed high-speed communication interface technologies such as PCI-Express,*⁴ SATA,*⁵ and 6GbitSerdes,*⁶ and they have been embedded in system LSI products for telecommunications equipment. By introducing HDMI combined with our existing expertise in high-speed data transmission technology for telecommunications equipment, we hope to bring to market HDMI compliant semiconductor products enabling high-speed data transfer and advanced content protection as system-ready solutions for the rapidly advancing field of high-definition video products.”

“As co-founder and creator of the HDMI standard and the leading supplier of HDMI technology, Silicon Image is excited to have Renesas license our HDMI receiver and transmitter core IP for implementation in their consumer electronics semiconductor product line,” stated Eric Almgren, Vice President of Intellectual Property Licensing for Silicon Image.  “We look forward to Renesas expanding HDMI as the ubiquitous digital interface among consumer electronics products and to expanding HDMI into digital still cameras and camcorders.”

The integration of advanced high-speed communication technology from Renesas Technology and Silicon Image will accelerate the proliferation of consumer electronics products that are capable of providing fast data transfer speeds and reduced power consumption operations. Renesas Technology plans to begin introducing HDMI-compliant semiconductor products for high-definition video applications such as DVD players and recorders, digital TV sets, and digital still cameras in late 2005. The first product will be a digital TV chip incorporating the HDMI receiver and will be sampling in the first quarter of 2006. In addition to expanding its line of semiconductor products with HDMI functionality, Renesas Technology assists customers implementing designs incorporating high-speed digital communications through Renesas Technology’s comprehensive field application support.

Notes:
1. HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface combines uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over a single cable. Silicon Image, Inc. is a co-founder of HDMI Licensing, LLC.  For more information, visit www.hdmi.org.

2. DVI: Digital Visual Interface is an interface standard for connecting personal computers and displays. It employs the TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) serial transfer method developed by Silicon Image, Inc., to enable direct transmission of digital signals from the PC to the display.

3. HDCP: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is a digital video signal encryption format developed by Intel Corporation for content protection.

4. PCI-Express: A serial data transfer interface promoted by Intel Corporation, the specifications of which are managed by PCI-SIG. It is widely known as 3GIO (3rd Generation I/O). The interface’s maximum data transfer rate is 2.5 Gbps (in contrast to 1.06 Gbps for standard PCI).

5. SATA: An extended version of the IDE (ATA) standard for connecting a personal computer and storage devices such as hard disk drives. The initial Serial ATA (SATA) standard, Ultra SATA/1500 supports a data transfer rate of 1.5 Gbps (approximately 190 MB/second), which is about 1.4 times as fast as the previous standard.  SATA II increases the data bandwidth to 3.0 Gbps.

6. 6GbitSerdes: A high-speed parallel/serial and serial/parallel conversion circuit (SERializer DESeirizer) supporting a maximum throughput of 6 Gbps.

About Renesas Technology Corp.
Renesas Technology Corp. designs and manufactures highly integrated semiconductor system solutions for mobile, automotive and PC/AV markets. Established on April 1, 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503)  and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Renesas Technology is one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world and the world's leading microcontroller supplier globally. Besides microcontrollers, Renesas Technology offers flash memories, system-in-package and system-on-chip devices, Smart Card ICs, mixed-signal products, SRAMs and more. http://www.renesas.com

About Silicon Image
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Silicon Image, Inc. is a leader in the secure distribution, presentation and storage of high-definition content. Silicon Image creates and drives industry standards for digital content delivery such as DVI, HDMI and SATA, leveraging strategic partnerships with global leaders in consumer electronics and personal computing. Silicon Image offers robust, high-bandwidth semiconductors in the global PC/display, consumer electronics and storage arenas based on its innovative digital interconnect technology and has become one of the top ten IP licensing vendors in the world. For more information on Silicon Image, visit www.siliconimage.com.