SAN JOSE -- At the Microprocessor Forum here today, STMicroelectronics will announce an x86-based microprocessor line as well as a part built around Hitachi Ltd.'s RISC chip core.
On the x86-based front, the European chip company plans to roll out three products built around a 64-bit, 133-MHz processor core. Designed for use in Internet appliances, set-top boxes, Web TVs, and related low-cost applications, the new x86-based products from STMicroelectronics include the STPC Atlas, STPC Consumer-II, and the STPC Elite.
All three products consist of several components on the same device, including both ISA and PCI controllers, an IDE port, an SDRAM memory controller, a JTAG port, among others. They also support up to 128-Mbytes of synchronous DRAM, using 16-, 64-, or 128-Mbit SDRAM chips.
The STPC Consumer-II and STPC Atlas also include graphics and video functions, while the STPC Elite includes a 16-bit, general-purpose I/O block. Additionally the STPC Atlasincorporates a Super I/O chip, PS/2 keyboard and mouse controllers, two UARTs, dual-port USB host hub, and a PCMCIA controller.
All three devices are packaged in low-cost plastic BGA packages. Samples of the STPC Consumer II and STPC Elite will be available in November, with volume production scheduled for December of 2000. The STPC Atlas will be available two months later.
Prices are less than $38 for the STPC Atlas, less than $33 for the STPC Consumer-II, and less than $26 for the STPC Elite. All prices are in 10,000-unit lots.
On the RISC front, the European chip company announced the availability of the ST40-STB1, the first member of a chip line based on Hitachi's SuperH SH-4, a 32-bit RISC processor core.
Offered in speed grades of 150-, 166-, and 200-MHz, the chip is geared for interactive digital set-top boxes and other products. "The ST40 family is of strategic importance for the next-generation of interactive consumer devices," said Robert Krysiak, group vice president and General Manager of Core Development at STMicroelectronics.
"The ST40-STB1 is the first product in our new generation of devices based around the SuperH RISC engine that we are co-developing with Hitachi," he added.
The ST40-STB1 integrates a 66-MHz PCI interface, memory interface, a peripheral bus, two UARTs, parallel I/O, timers, DMA, and clocks. The device comes in a 372-pin BGA package, but prices were not disclosed.
