NEC Electronics America Teams with Ariane Controls to Support Designers of Electronics Systems in the Smart Energy Market

Licensing Agreement Extends Powerline Communications Modem Technology to ASIC and Standard Solutions Customers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. & QUEBEC-- October 9, 2008 -- To support customers developing command and control systems for smart energy applications such as utility metering, demand response, intelligent lighting and home area networks (HANs), NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced it has licensed Ariane Controls’ powerline communications (PLC) modem technology. NEC Electronics America plans to offer this cost-effective PLC intellectual property (IP) as a building block for its ASIC and standard solutions customers. This technology complements NEC Electronics America’s efforts to help customers develop environmentally friendly systems, such as smart grid, advanced energy management and intelligent lighting solutions that can save energy and money for consumers.

Earlier this year, NEC Electronics America and Ariane Controls worked closely to develop the Ariane Controls PLM-1 standalone PLC modem integrated circuit (IC), which offers a wide range of programmable transmission rates and communications frequencies to provide engineers with increased design flexibility and reliability. This agreement enables customers to purchase PLM-1 devices from NEC Electronics America.

“Ariane has developed a cost–effective, flexible PLC modem solution that can be migrated easily throughout our process technologies to provide our ASIC customers with a critical PLC building block and add functionality to our standard solutions lineup for emerging applications in the smart grid, intelligent lighting control and HAN markets,” said Kazu Yamada, vice president, custom SoC solutions strategic business unit, NEC Electronics America.

"Ariane’s goal is to create an open, interoperable standardized solution for energy management, and we are excited to expand our relationship with NEC Electronics America to offer our PLC modem IP to ASIC and standard solutions system designers,” said Jean-Pierre Fournier, president, Ariane Controls. “We are also happy to have the support of NEC Electronics America and its broad network to distribute our standalone PLM-1 product.”

PLC Modem IP for Command and Control Applications

PLC communications technologies allow quick and reliable data communications for networking and energy management applications. As more system designers adopt the technology, consumers can expect to see a wide range of solutions, including whole-house command centers that control lighting, appliances, climate, security and other systems. The Ariane PLC IP is optimized for use in cost-effective, medium data-rate applications used in these command and control systems. By making this IP available to its ASIC and standard solutions customers, NEC Electronics America strongly supports Ariane Controls in its effort to make this technology an industry standard.

Digital Modem IC Uses Turnkey Gate Array Platform

The standalone PLM-1 integrated circuit incorporates NEC Electronics’ CMOS-9HD gate array platform in a small, 44-pin, low-profile quad flatpack (LQFP) package, allowing for easy integration into the powerline transceivers used for these applications. The PLM-1 digital modem implements a half-duplex transmitter/receiver for PLCs using a frequency-shift key modulation technique, with programmable transmission rates ranging from 100 to 30,000 baud and communication frequencies ranging from 50 to 500 kilohertz (kHz). The IC includes a complete set of programmable functions that allows designers to implement cost-effective PLC networks with increased design flexibility and reliability. In addition, the device is protocol neutral, enabling the use of multiple protocols within one powerline network and the use of more than one protocol in a given application. The IC is RoHS-compliant and operates at 3.3 volts (V) with power consumption levels as low as 24 milliwatts (mW).

Availability

The PLC IP for ASIC solutions is available today from NEC Electronics America. The PLM-1 device is also available from NEC Electronics America and Ariane Controls. For more information, visit http://www.am.necel.com/asics/plc .

About Ariane Controls

Ariane Controls is a powerline (PLC) and wireless (RF) communication technology developer offering highly differentiated networking solutions. With its unique and enabling technology, Ariane Controls provides components suppliers and systems integrators (OEMs) with the least expensive, most reliable solutions for residential, commercial and industrial building automation and public utilities applications. Ariane Controls is an active member of the Homeplug Powerline Alliance. (www.arianecontrols.com)

About NEC Electronics America, Inc.

NEC Electronics America, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723 - News), a leading provider of semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the broadband and communications markets; system solutions for the mobile, PC, automotive and digital consumer markets; and multi-market solutions for a wide range of consumer applications. NEC Electronics America offers local manufacturing in Roseville, California, and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company. In the Americas, NEC Electronics America markets and sells industrial-type active-matrix LCD modules from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies. More information about the products offered by NEC Electronics America can be found at http://www.am.necel.com/.