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National Semiconductor Introduces Second-Generation PowerWise Technology Energy Management Unit and Advanced Power Controller


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Digitally-programmable LP5552 and APC2 Support Adaptive Voltage Scaling, Extend Battery Life and Enable New Features

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and MUNICH – September 18, 2006 – Worldwide power management technology leader National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today announced its second-generation, digitally-programmable LP5552 PowerWise® energy management unit (EMU) and advanced power controller (APC2) intellectual property (IP) package for reducing power consumption in battery-powered handheld consumer products.

National’s APC2 IP pairs with the LP5552 EMU to reduce the power consumption of high data-rate digital processors with frequency-scaling capability by up to 70 percent.

The APC2 IP is compatible with Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM) frequency-scaling technology from ARM Ltd. The LP5552 and APC2 are compliant with the PowerWise Interface™ (PWI) 2.0 open-industry standard introduced by National Semiconductor and ARM earlier this year.

National’s LP5552 enables a digital processor to adaptively adjust its supply voltage to the minimum level needed, greatly reducing its power consumption. The LP5552 includes two adaptive-supply-voltage buck regulators for the processor cores and five additional programmable regulators. The linear regulators power the input/output (I/O) ring, oscillator and phase-locked loops (PLL) and embedded and external memories on low-power SoCs, and can also power other auxiliary devices in the system. The PWI 2.0 interface controls the LP5552’s functions for simple interfacing to the digital processor.

Compliant with the AMBA™ specification, National’s APC2 is a synthesizable macro-cell that includes a hardware performance monitor to support adaptive voltage and frequency scaling. Similar to the APC1 announced by National Semiconductor in 2004, the APC2 automatically calibrates for process and temperature variations, and communicates with the LP5552 using the PWI 2.0 interface. In addition, the APC2 concurrently manages multiple voltages and frequency-scaled power domains on a feature-rich multi-processor SoC, as well as bias voltages for leakage reduction with threshold scaling.

Key Technical Specifications of National’s LP5552
The LP5552 supports the PWI 2.0 interface, a 2-pin, high-speed serial power management control interface for advanced processor power management. To enable adaptive voltage scaling, the LP5552 includes two digitally-programmable, 600 mA, 0.6V to 1.2V buck regulators with up to 90 percent efficiency and excellent transient performance for rapidly varying digital loads. In addition, it has five programmable low drop-out (LDO) regulators with output voltages ranging from 0.6 V to 3.3V. The linear regulators support output current ranges from 50 mA to 250 mA. Two of the linear regulators contain a low quiescent (lq) current-retention mode for minimizing system power consumption when SoC processors are inactive, but need fast recovery time.

Available in a lead-free, 36-bump micro SMD package, the LP5552 has excellent package thermal characteristics and operates over the full temperature range from –40 degrees C to +85 degrees C, with input voltages from 2.7V to 4.8V.

Key Technical Specifications of National’s APC2
The APC2 controls voltage in modern, multi-core processor ICs. The APC2 is embedded in SoC devices such as digital baseband and application processors used in portable applications. The APC2 is provided as configurable soft intellectual property with RTL, configuration and synthesis scripts, test benches, implementation and programming documentation, as well as reference driver software. The IP package is compatible with industry-standard design tools and flows. The APC2 supports up to four power domains each with up to four independently frequency-scaled clock domains inside. It also supports eight frequency settings, clock stop and power down modes for each clock domain. The APC2 includes a PWI 2.0 compliant master interface to the peripheral devices as well as AMBA advanced peripheral bus (APB) host interface for configuration and control. The APC2 supports deployment of both table-based dynamic voltage scaling and PowerWise adaptive voltage scaling.

About the Second-Generation Adaptive Voltage Scaling
Adaptive voltage scaling is a technique for determining the minimum supply voltage for a digital processor during operation. This technology significantly reduces the supply voltage of a digital processor by removing voltage margins associated with the effects of process and die temperature variation inside the processor IC, as well as IR-drop and regulator tolerances in the system. The advanced power controller, together with National’s LP5552, enables customers to easily deploy this technology in their platforms.

About the PWI 2.0 Open-Industry Standard
The PWI standard 1.0 was developed to provide point-to-point connections in simple systems, such as those with one power management IC and single-core SoC. National’s second-generation PowerWise interface standard provides high-speed, multi-drop bus capability for real-time power management control in more complex systems, such as those in cell phones, portable gaming and media devices with multiple-core SoCs and multiple peripheral devices. The command set and communication protocol of the PWI 2.0 are optimized for advanced power management techniques such as dynamic and adaptive voltage and frequency scaling, the control of multiple independent power domains on modern SoC devices and flexible peripheral device control.

For more information or to order samples of the LP5552, visit http://www.national.com/pf/LP/LP5552.html. For more information about the PWI 2.0 adaptive voltage scaling technology, visit http://powerwise.national.com. For more information about the PowerWise Interface, visit http://www.pwistandard.org. An online seminar, “PowerWise Adaptive Voltage Scaling Technology,” is available for on-demand viewing at http://www.national.com/AU/design/0,4706,0_42_,00.html.

About National’s Power Management Products
National Semiconductor is the number one supplier of power management ICs with 14 percent market share, according to iSuppli’s 2005 voltage regulator/reference survey. National’s power management revenue grew 37.3 percent in 2004 over the previous year, compared to 24 percent growth for the industry. National’s innovative power management products include best-in-class linear regulators; power monitoring, control and reference ICs; and switching converters, such as high-voltage ICs for DC-DC conversion, switched capacitor converters, lighting management ICs and inductive switching converters. National also offers online tools that enable power designers to select the best power management chips for their applications. National’s Webench® design tool allows designers to choose a product, create and analyze a design, and then build custom prototypes that can be delivered within 24 hours. More information about National’s power management products is available at http://power.national.com.

Pricing and Availability
The LP5552 is available now and is priced at $5.50 in 1,000-unit quantities. The APC2 is available for licensing from National and ARM.

Note to Editors: To view a high-resolution downloadable photo of this product, visit National’s photo gallery at www.national.com/company/pressroom/gallery/power.html

About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor, the industry’s premier analog company, creates high-value analog devices and subsystems. National’s leading-edge products include power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers, interface products and data conversion solutions. National’s key analog markets include wireless handsets, displays and a variety of broad electronics markets, including medical, automotive, industrial, and test and measurement applications. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., National reported sales of $2.16 billion for fiscal 2006, which ended May 28, 2006. Additional company and product information is available at www.national.com.

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National Semiconductor is a registered trademark of National Semiconductor Corporation. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.



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