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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / SEPTEMBER 8, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 36
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Breaking News -
Networking:
NEC Announces 64-Bit MIPS-Based
Microprocessor
NEC Electronics America Inc announced the new VR4133 64-bit MIPS-based
microprocessor. The VR4133 microprocessor features a powerful yet
power-efficient 266-megahertz superscalar CPU core and a variety of integrated
peripherals and networking features, including a peripheral component
interconnect (PCI) interface, Ethernet media access controller (MAC) and
support for Internet security protocols (IPsec) in hardware. This combination
of performance and features makes this device a compelling solution for use in
both wired and wireless small/home office, consumer networking and residential
broadband router applications. The VR4133 processor is also attractive for use
in portable media player applications and can support MIPS32 applications.
"As broadband cable and DSL connectivity continues to proliferate in the
small
office and residential markets, consumers are demanding more features and ease
of use from their broadband connections," said George Wang, general manager of
standard LSI solutions strategic business unit at NEC Electronics America.
"Residential and small office gateways need to support applications that link
multiple PCs or use secure wireless network connections. Accordingly, the
processors used in these gateway products need increased processing power and
network security support, which is precisely what the VR4133 superscalar
processor delivers."
The processor's 266-MHz VR4130 core features a dual-issue superscalar
architecture that further accelerates performance and limits power consumption
to 370 milliwatts at full-speed operation. Additionally, the core's 64-bit
data path provides throughput performance greater than the 32-bit processors
typically used in office and residential gateways.
In addition to its low power consumption and high performance, the VR4133
microprocessor supports a variety of integrated peripherals and networking
features that make it highly appropriate for Internet gateway devices. Both
33- and 66-MHz PCI interfaces support 1000Base or wireless local area network
(WLAN) network connections, while integrated dual Ethernet MAC interfaces
provide 10/100Base Ethernet connectivity. To address the rising concern among
users for network security, NEC Electronics' VR4133 processor provides support
for several security protocol algorithms in hardware, such as Encapsulating
Security Payload (ESP), including Data Encryption Standard (DES), triple DES
and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms, as well as Authentication
Header (AH), including Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA). The processor has a
133-MHz synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) interface enabling
designers to leverage high-performance memory in their product designs. The
VR4133 microprocessor is capable of extensive on-chip software debugging via
its N-wire debug hardware and N-wire and JTAG interfaces.
To further assist designers in bringing VR4133-based solutions to market
quickly and cost-effectively, NEC Electronics America also will market a
reference board design platform. Powered by the 266-MHz VR4133 microprocessor,
the reference board also features 64 megabytes of PC-133 SDRAM, 32 MB of flash
memory, two RJ-45 10/100BaseT Ethernet connectors, an RS-232C connector and a
miniPCI slot. The VR4133 reference board is compatible with NEC Electronics
America's RockHopper family of reference boards.
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