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PR NEWSWIRE) Micronas Introduces Intelligent System Solution for MP3 Hard Di
Micronas Introduces Intelligent System Solution for MP3 Hard Disc Player

FREIBURG, Germany, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At CeBIT 2002,
Micronas unveils the company's first application board for the development of
audio players with an interface to IBM's Microdrive(TM). The Micronas
ColumbusDRIVE features a SDRAM buffer memory and memory management system that
will extend playtime three to four times than that of battery operated audio
players retrieving their data from spinning media, and completes Micronas'
range of solutions supporting flash-based media such as SD cards and MMC.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020307/SFTH039 )
"For spinning storage media like hard discs, the price per byte will be
significantly lower than for memory cards based on flash memories," said
Peter Moller, director application multimedia of Micronas. "Manufacturers of
audio players can use such large-scale media as IBM's 1-Gbyte Microdrive
without having to pay for this advantage with a considerably lower battery
life."
Spinning storage media require more power than flash-based memory cards.
In order to reduce the system power consumption, Micronas placed an 8 Mbyte
SDRAM buffer memory on the ColumbusDRIVE development board. Within a few
seconds, amounts of data suffice for several minutes playtime are transmitted
from the IBM Microdrive into the buffer. The hard disc switches itself off
once the data transmission is complete and is only reactivated when new data
is transmitted into the buffer. As an energy saving function, the hard disc
dissipates power only when necessary and remains in standby mode the rest of
the time.
The ColumbusDRIVE supports functions for playback and recording of music
-- both from analog and digital sources. Analog or digital input signals are
converted into the MP3 format and saved in the SDRAM buffer. Only when the
memory capacity of the SDRAM is exhausted, the mechanic storage medium is
activated. Hence, the low power advantage also holds for the recording of
music.
The universal interfaces of the new ColumbusDRIVE development board also
allow the attachment of other storage media, like CompactFlash cards.
The ColumbusDRIVE extends Micronas' MP3 player design platform by manifold
applications. With the universal Zenon(TM) processor based on the ARM7(R)TDMI
core and the MASF family of audio codecs, Micronas enables system
manufacturers to develop competitive players based on a single platform. The
range of variations extends from low-cost players used for mere music playback
to high-end equipment, which can not only playback but also record from both
analog and digital sources. Besides all major audio formats such as MP3, WMA
or AAC, the Columbus board family also supports common voice codecs. System
manufacturers can now combine all these multifaceted variations with all sorts
of flash-memory based and mechanic memories.
Users only need a standard ARM environment for development based on the
ColumbusDRIVE application boards. No special tools from Micronas are
necessary.
The ColumbusDRIVE application board is available now at a price of below
1.000 US Dollar.

About Micronas
Micronas (SWX: MASN; Neuer Markt Frankfurt: MNSN), a semiconductor company
group with worldwide operations, is a leading supplier of cutting-edge IC and
sensor system solutions for consumer electronics, multimedia and automotive
electronics. The holding is headquartered in Zurich (Switzerland).
Currently, the Micronas group employs about 1500 people. In 2001, it
generated over CHF 566 Million in sales. For more information on Micronas and
its products, please visit www.micronas.com.


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SOURCE Micronas
-0- 03/07/2002
/CONTACT: Martijn Pierik, Account Manager of Positio PR, [phone],
or fax, [phone], or [e-mail], for Micronas/
/Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020307/SFTH039
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, [phone] or [phone]/
/Web site: http://www.micronas.com/

CO: Micronas
ST: California, Germany, Switzerland
IN: CPR CSE HRD PEL
SU: PDT TDS