June 3, 2002 - National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM) today announced the adoption of its high-performance, low-power Geode™ GX2 technology by several original design manufacturers (ODMs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The Geode GX2 technology's unmatched mix of performance, power and price makes it the solution of choice for next-generation thin-client and consumer access devices.
National will demonstrate the Geode GX2 development platforms at Computex Taiwan 2002, June 3-7, in Room 402, Taipei International Convention Center. The platforms also will be displayed at National's press event today at 3 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt, Taipei.
National's leading Geode GX2 platform is designed to specifically address needs for tomorrow's Internet access devices, with emphasis on full-featured multimedia performance across broadband connections. Together with its companion, the Geode CS5535, it provides the most comprehensive solution for Internet access devices with an embedded SDRAM double data rate (DDR) memory controller, support for extended graphics, four USB ports and an embedded IDE controller. The Geode GX2 technology has been adopted by customers such as Bcom, VisionBank and Biostar for their next-generation thin-client and Internet access device designs.
“National's innovative Geode GX2 solution is a launching pad for a new generation of thin clients and Internet access devices,” said Michael Polacek, vice president of the Information Appliance division, National Semiconductor. “National remains committed to the growth of the IA market it pioneered by providing the most optimal solutions and delivering the best value to our customers.”
The new GX2 development platform will also be ideal to power mobile smart display devices that will be powered by Microsoft “Mira” technology in the home. "When creating next-generation mobile devices, like the forthcoming “Mira”-enabled smart displays, device developers need the most advanced technologies to deliver rich end user experiences," said Keith White, senior director of marketing for the Embedded Appliance Platforms Group at Microsoft Corp. "The combination of National's Geode GX2 processor and the Windows CE .NET and Windows XP Embedded operating systems allows developers to bring powerful, connected devices to market quickly and easily."
The Geode GX2 processor is by far the lowest power consumption processor designed specifically for Internet access devices, consuming 50 percent less power than any other x86 processors on the market. This significantly reduced power level is made possible by National's revolutionary GeodeLink™ system architecture, section-by-section hardware power cycling and reduced voltage. Typical power consumption of the Geode GX2 processor combined with its companion chip is less than 2 watts. For streaming media-intensive applications, it consumes only 3 watts.
“Bcom has been aggressively pushing thin-client technology. National's Geode GX2 family comes at a time when the market is taking off,” said Andrew Hou, general manager of Bcom. “With the Geode GX2 solution, we are able to develop products with no compromise performance, superb streaming media experience and high graphics resolution visible to our customers.”
Advanced IA Designs on Single Platform
The 32-bit x86 Geode GX2 processor and its companion chip, the Geode CS5535, provide a full-featured capability for advanced IA device development. The Geode CS5535 integrates four USB ports, one ATA-66 UDMA controller, one Infrared communication port, one AC97 controller as well as one SMBUS controller and one LPC port.
The Geode SP4GX22 development platform for the GX2/CS5535 chipset is designed to help National's customers get new products to the market quickly and cost effectively. This platform leverages the advanced features of the CS5535 such as access to USB ports and surround sound capability. It has one LPC slot and four PCI slots for peripheral expansion. In addition to the clock gating technology embedded in the GeodeLink architecture, the chipset supports power management standards such as ACPI (advanced configuration and power interface) to achieve further power savings. The 66 MHz PCI controller in the Geode GX2 processor allows Ethernet connectivity using National's GigPHYTER™ technology while the LPC enables Advanced I/O functionality. Full support is available for Microsoft Windows CE.NET, Windows XP and Windows XP Embedded and Linux operating systems.
Pricing and Availability
The Geode GX2 processor is available for sampling in three categories: the E-series for portable devices; the X-series for high-performance systems; and the S-series for general applications. Pricing varies based on volume, but will be approximately US$50 for the GX2/CS5535 chipset. The Geode SP4GX22 development platform is sampling now to selected customers. Contact the local National Semiconductor sales office for details.
About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor is the premier analog company driving the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of-the-art digital technology, the company is focused on the fast growing markets for wireless handsets; displays; information infrastructure, and information appliances. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2.1 billion for its last fiscal year and has about 9,800 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.
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What Customers and Partners Say about National Semiconductor’s Geode GX2 Solution
VisionBank (http://www.visionbank.com)
“The demand for better device performance and the need for less power consumption are the two critical drivers in the information appliance market. We chose National Semiconductor’s Geode™ GX2 processor for our thin clients because it was specifically designed to meet these requirements. We now look forward to seeing explosive growth in the thin-client market.”
-- Horace Ke, Sales and Marketing Director
Biostar (http://www.biostar.com.tw)
“National’s Geode GX2 offers excellent power consumption for a processor with such a high level of performance. With the obvious benefits from the GX2 and our expertise in hardware design, we can bring innovative Internet access devices based on National’s WebPAD™ reference design without constraints on form factor or design size.”
-- Jason Wang, Vice President
Insyde Software (www.insydesw.com)
“We are very excited to be a partner with National Semiconductor as the BIOS provider for their next-generation Geode GX2 processor. The XpressROM BIOS firmware product that we provide complements the GeodeLink™ architecture as well as the multimedia capabilities of the Geode GX2. This means that we can provide optimized system solutions as well as faster time to market for our customers.”
-- C.T. Wang, President
First Silicon Solutions (www.fs2.com)
"FS2's System Analyzer for National Semiconductor's Geode GX2 and CS5535 uniquely combines triggering on address-data combinations, ranges of execution breakpoints and opcodes, as well as collecting real-time execution trace. This makes it easier than ever before to debug tough problems such as real to protected mode transitions and SMM operations. The benefit for BIOS, firmware, and system software developers is significantly faster development of GX2/CS5535-based systems."
-- Rick Leatherman, President
