“SH7300 Solution Engine”

Tokyo, December 19, 2002— Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced the SH7300 Platform SDK(Software Development Kit), development solution encompassing both hardware and software, that is for application software development of mobile phone systems using the SH7300 which is the top model in the application processor SH-Mobile series for next generation mobile phones. Providing will begin in January 2003 in Japan.

The SH7300 Platform SDK comprises (1) the SH7300 Solution Engine®^*1 of application development board, (2) the SH7300 HI Application Engine^TM*2 for building an application development environment, and (3) the SH7300 Middleware suite of tools for implementing video and audio playback or video mail on mobile phones, as well as an application programming interface (API), etc. By these hardware and software for effective system development, the SH7300 Platform SDK makes it possible to develop applications with high-efficiency for next generation mobile phones incorporating the SH7300. And application development time is possible to reduce to approximately half that previously required. In addition, the libraries for MPEG-4 hardware accelerator built into the SH7300 are providing and videophone functions for next generation mobile phones can be developed and evaluated easily.

The SH7300 Solution Engine and SH7300 HI Application Engine are manufactured by Hitachi ULSI Systems Co., Ltd. and Hitachi, Ltd. provides a total solution.

Recently, applications for mobile phones have expanded beyond voice communication to include high-level functions such as the games or image distribution. Hitachi developed the SH-Mobile series of processors to handle dedicated processing of such applications and they have been very favorably received within the industry. The SH7300 is the newest product in this series. It has a built-in MPEG-4 hardware accelerator to support smooth motion in applications for next generation mobile phones, such as videophone functions based on the high-speed data communication. However, when developing a variety of applications employing high-level functions for processors that are faster and have more advanced functions, the application programs themselves trend to become larger size and more complex, and the time required to develop them to increase. This means that there is a strong need for improved development efficiency for systems and applications in order to make it possible to bring new products to market in timely.

In response to this need, Hitachi is offering the SH7300 Platform SDK as a total application development solution for developers of next generation mobile phone systems incorporating the SH7300. It comprises a development board, software for building a development environment, and a suite of middleware tools.

By using the SH7300 Platform SDK, a developer can substantially simplify the task of building a development environment. This means that the actual application development can be started quickly and that the major emphasis can be focused on this task. In addition, the developer can make use of the middleware tools provided to develop a variety of applications easily. By a reduction the load of building a development environment and a suite of software (API, middleware etc.) that make creating applications more efficient, the SH7300 Platform SDK effectively halves the time required from the point when building the development environment starts to the point when application development is completed.

The compositions and features of the SH7300 Integrated Platform are described below.

1. SH7300 Solution Engine
   This application development board equips with an SH7300 with an operating frequency of 118.8 MHz. It provides the functions and interface necessary for developing mobile phone applications in a compact unit. The board size is 100 mm × 254 mm, and mounted on it are a VGA size CMOS camera module, two LCD panels, 30 key switches, and other devices. It also equips with an audio interface and an expansion slot to support easy connection with external devices. In addition, the small size of the board means that application development can be accomplished in a limited area, such as on a desk. A circuit diagram of the board is provided and developers are free to make use of elements of the circuit design when developing their own system hardware. Thus the time required for hardware development is reduced as well.
   
   
2. SH7300 HI Application Engine
   This is a software suite that includes an operating system and debugger for building an application development environment. This eliminates the time to perform tasks, such as set-up of the operating system and loading device drivers etc., before start of application development. By this software suite, application development environment on the µITRON^*3 OS can be built up easily. In addition, it is easy to evaluate multitasking applications, something that is extremely difficult to do using a conventional ICE (in circuit emulator). A debugging environment is provided as well, making it possible to minimize the time required for evaluation (which tends to be the most time consuming part of system development).
   
   
3. 3. SH7300 Middleware Suite, Application Programming Interface (API), MPEG-4 Libraries
   In addition to MP3 for audio, JPEG and MPEG-4 for image, and middleware for communication and voice support, the SH7300 Middleware suite includes middleware optimized for implementing functions such as synchronized video and audio playback, video mail, and Silicon Audio for the SH7300. This provides developers with an easy way to create a variety multimedia applications. In addition, the supplied API supports functions such as video mail for mobile phones. The developer can thus implement such functions simply by only calling the API.
   Libraries for MPEG-4 hardware accelerator built into the SH7300 are also included. This simplifies the development of applications implementing video playback or videophone capabilities for next generation mobile phones. Using the array of software tools provided, developers can create a variety of applications with advanced functions in short time.

Hitachi will continue adding refinements to the environment and software in order to achieve an even greater degree of development efficiency.

2. SH7300 HI Application Engine

Item Specifications Incorporated software OS HI7700/4 (Hitachi, Ltd.): µITRON 4.0 specification OS File system UltraFile/HI (Hitachi ULSI Systems Co., Ltd.): FAT12/16/32, Japanese long filename support Multitasking debugger UltraMonitor/HI (Hitachi ULSI Systems Co., Ltd.): Multitasking debugging function, nonstop debugging function Configurator OS operating environment settings, OS rebuild-up function Sample drivers Dedicated: VI03, IIC, GPIO, LCD, SIO, SIOF, SCIF, SIU, dedicated interface General use: PC-ATA card, serial interface, flash memory Operating environment PC: Windows® 98/XP, Windows® 2000 Target: SH7300 Solution Engine

Notes:

Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. CompactFlashTM is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation in United States and is licensed to CFA (CompactFlash Association). Hitachi, Ltd. is a board member of the CFA. http://www.compactflash.org/

3. SH7300 Middleware

Item Specifications Sound AAC decoder/encoder MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AAC support MP3 decoder/encoder MPEG-1/MPEG-2 Audio Layer III support Moving Image MPEG-4 video decoder/encoder MPEG-4 simple profile support Still image JPEG CODEC JPEG still image compression format support PNG CODEC W3C still image compression format support Communication Sound echo cancellation ITU-T G.167 support Voice AMR CODEC Third-generation mobile communications standard AMR support System Video playback/video recording system MP4 file (ISO/IEC 14496-1) support Silicon audio system MP3/AAC support (audio recording/playback functions)