NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR ANNOUNCES PRODUCTION OF SINGLE-CHIP SOLUTION FOR SET-TOP BOX MARKET

"Set-top Box-on-a-Chip" Enables Fusion of the Internet with TV Content

September 18, 2000 - National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today strengthened its leading position in the interactive TV and set-top box (STB) market by announcing the National® Geode™ SC1200 processor, which is optimized for STB applications. This new "set-top box-on-a-chip" solution provides the highest silicon integration for the interactive STB market, delivering seamless integration of the Internet and digital television.

"The Geode SC1200 processor enables users to harness the power of the Internet right through their TV sets," said David Pederson, business unit director for National's Information Appliance Division. "Our solution transforms TVs into fully featured information appliances that give consumers interactive TV programming, Web-based electronic program guides, instant messaging and chat, Web-browsing and e-mail services."

The Geode SC1200 processor is the newest addition to National's next generation of Geode integrated processors for the information appliance market. Each of these processors incorporates specific functionality that meets the technical requirements of National's three primary markets - the set-top box, personal access device and thin client market. All members of the Geode family provide the lowest power consumption available, optimal performance, and x86 multimedia architecture. These x86-based products are ideal for Internet access because most of the search engines, plug-ins and applets on the Internet are based on the x86 architecture without the cost and complexity of a PC. Together, these features help National's customers lower overall system costs and speed time to market.

The interactive set-top box is one of the newest appliances for interactive home entertainment and taps into a fast-growing market. National predicts the manufacturing of set-top boxes will continue to grow by more than 20 percent per year for the next three years (2001 - 2003), resulting in about 120 million new set-top boxes.

"We have tremendous faith in this market because interactive set-top boxes give people what they want --- Internet access --- in a comfortable and familiar form factor, the family TV. An interactive set-top box, built around the Geode SC1200, represents the true convergence of information and entertainment," Pederson said.

"The Geode processor is best suited to power digital set-tops for the foreseeable future," said Richard Doherty, director of The Envisioneering Group. "National's multi-decade experience with audio and video delivery ensures both rapid time to market and future-proof product life, even as consumer and services providers extend to new media formats."

National as STB Partner of Choice
National's Geode SC1200 processor has excellent design and software support and offers maximum design flexibility that makes it easy for equipment manufacturers to design Internet services and features into set-top boxes. Equipment manufacturers also have the advantage of combining the processor with products offered by National's many partners, as well as National's world-class analog ICs, leading to exciting, differentiated and complete system solutions.

National's Geode processor delivers the best solution for products in a variety of STB markets, including interactive digital STBs, NetTV and multimedia gateways. For example, National's Geode technology will be used in set-top boxes to deliver America Online's new interactive TV service - AOLTV(SM).

"As part of our larger 'AOL Anywhere' strategy, the new AOLTV service will provide members yet another way to access their favorite features and services while enhancing their television viewing experience. The work we have done with National to design the chip set that is part of the underlying technology that will deliver this exciting new service to AOL members and other consumers this fall is an important step in making 'AOL Anywhere' a reality," said Carlos Silva, Vice President, AOLTV.

About the Geode SC1200 Processor
Manufactured on the company's advanced 0.18-micron process technology, the Geode SC1200 processor offers the industry's most highly integrated, cost effective x86 solution for next generation interactive set-top box designs. Its very low power characteristics make it an ideal choice for fanless set-top boxes, allowing equipment manufacturers to avoid noise and reliability concerns with consumer electronic product designs. The power dissipation of the chip is less than two watts under typical operating conditions.

The SC1200 is based around a Geode GX1 32-bit, x86-compatible processor module, and includes a TV processor with four 10-bit video DACs, CCIR656 video input port, IDE bus, three USB ports and a periphery of UARTs and general purpose I/O's. The SC1200 combines advanced CPU performance with MMX™ support, fully accelerated 2D graphics, a 64-bit synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) interface, and an internal PCI bus controller.

Pricing and Availability
The Geode SC1200 processor is priced below $50 for high volume applications. It has been sampling to key OEMs and is currently in production.

About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2.1 billion for its last fiscal year and has about 10,500 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com. For more details on information appliances, see IA.NATIONAL.COM.