NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR UNVEILS WORLD’S SMALLEST OP AMP

March 10, 1998 – National Semiconductor Corporation® today introduced the LMV321 - the industry’s smallest operational amplifier. The single op amp, housed in an SC70-5 package, measures just 2.0mm by 2.1mm x 1.0mm (about 3/32 inch square). With this small package, designers can place the LMV321 closer to the signal source in space-constrained portable systems for greater signal integrity. The new chip also reduces power consumption and extends battery life in portable products, making it ideal for use in cellular handsets, cordless phones and pagers.

Other members of National’s new LMV op amp line include the LMV358 dual op amp and the LMV324 quad op amp in SOIC packages. All three devices are single supply rail-to-rail output operational amplifiers with no crossover distortion, fully redesigned for 2.7V to 5V operation with new circuit topologies. They exhibit excellent speed/power characteristics of 1.0 MHz gain bandwidth and 1V/microsecond of slew rate combined with a low supply current of 100 microamps per channel for extended battery life.

“Since their introduction by National more than 25 years ago, the LM324 and LM358 quad and dual op amps have been top performers,” said Bill Stacy, VP of National’s Standard Analog Products. “Even today, for supply voltages from 5V to 32V, you cannot find better op amps for the price. The new LMV family extends this price/performance achievement down to 2.7V single-supply operation, rail-to-rail output, low power dissipation and small footprints, all with no cost penalty to the customer.

“National’s tradition of analog design expertise that produced the LM324 is continued with the LMV family,” according to Stacy. “The original design of the LM324 ‘raised the bar’ by providing true single-supply operation in a quad configuration. Today, our LMV designers are pushing miniaturization to the extreme to get the same performance at lower supply voltages without increasing cost. An added benefit is the smaller, SC70-5 package, thanks to the even smaller die.”

Concurrently, National introduced an equivalent family of comparators. The LMV331 single comparator is also packaged in the SC70-5 package, while the LMV393 dual comparator and the LMV339 quad comparator are in mini-SOIC-8 and TSSOP-14 packages.

The LMV family’s small size and low cost are made possible by National’s advanced sub-micron silicon-gate BiCMOS process that combines the speed of bipolar and the low power of CMOS without incurring higher cost. National reports a cost reduction of as much as 50% over CMOS parts with comparable specifications.

National Semiconductor Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, produces system-on-a-chip silicon solutions for the information highway, based on its leadership in analog and mixed signal technologies. National is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and focuses on the communications, personal systems and consumer markets. National has annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion and 13,000 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.

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Price and Availability
Available now in production quantities, prices are as follows in quantities of 1000:

Device	Description	Package	Price
LMV321M7	Single Op Amp	SC70-5	$.27
LMV321M	Single Op Amp	SOIC	$.26
LMV358M	Dual Op Amp	SOIC-8	$.26
LMV324M	Quad Op Amp	SOIC-8	$.29
LMV358MM	Dual Op Amp	MSOP	$.27
LMV324MT4	Quad Op Amp	TSSOP	$.30
LMV331M7	Single Comparator	SC70-5	$.27
LMV393M	Dual Comparator	SOIC	$.26
LMV339M	Quad Comparator	SOIC	$.29
LMV393MT	Dual Comparator	TSSOP	$.27
LMV339MT	Quad Comparator	TSSOP	$.30