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TOKYO and Hsinchu, Taiwan,
November 6, 2006 –
NEC Electronics Corporation,
Skyley Networks Inc., and Uniband Electronic Corporation
(“UBEC”) today introduced development kits, including
both software and hardware, that enable OEMs and system
developers to quickly and easily develop low power,
wireless peer-to-peer mesh networks ideal for the
rapidly growing field of industrial and residential
building management systems, lighting controls,
automated meters, sensors, and security systems. The
kits will be certified for compliance with the Enhanced
ZigBee™ Standard, to be unveiled by the ZigBee Alliance
early next year.
The Software Development Kit (SDK),
co-developed by NEC Electronics and Skyley Networks,
features an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI),
which allows effortless network development without the
need for C programming, and includes a network sniffer,
network viewer, node setting tool, and node monitor
tool, for easy implementation of peer-to-peer mesh
networks based on years of networking expertise.
The hardware platform, consists of
several evaluation boards based on All Flash™
microcontrollers by NEC Electronics, which offers the
flexibility of flash-based programming and excellent
power consumption levels, combined with UBEC’s UZ2400
transceiver device, which integrates a wireless RF
transceiver operating at 2.4 gigahertz, physical (PHY)
layer baseband and media access control (MAC) layer
architecture.
After prototyping with the development kit,
users can choose to develop their systems using any of
NEC Electronics’ unparalleled family of flash-based
microcontrollers, including the 8-bit 78K0, the 16-bit
K0R, and the 32-bit V850ES microcontrollers. The company
boasts a lineup of more than 200 devices, allowing
customers to select the MCU that meets the precise needs
for the applications they want to develop.
“NEC
Electronics offers customers a selection of more than
200 flash-based microcontrollers to choose from,
offering an unparalleled degree of flexibility,”
said Shige Ishikawa,
general
manager, Multipurpose Microcomputer Systems
Division, NEC Electronics.
“We are excited to be working with Skyley Networks and
UBEC, two recognized leaders in the ZigBee arena, to
bring such a wide range of possibilities to wireless
system developers.”
“It is quite exciting to see the five
year experience of ad-hoc, peer-to-peer network in
Skyley Networks can be shared with vast amount of
network solution providers on the globe,” said Hidekazu Umeda, CEO of Skyley Networks.
“This
collaboration took place at
a perfect time for the ZigBee network to commence the
deployment
in various sensor networks,”
said Chun-Yi Chai, CEO of UBEC. “The superior RF features of the UZ2400 transceiver chip will
enable a wide range of applications envisioned by the
ZigBee Alliance.”
Exhibition
at Embedded Technology 2006
A prototype of the ad-hoc peer-to-peer mesh network
using the SDK and the platform will be available for
viewing at Embedded Technology 2006, held November 15-17
at Pacifico Yokohama, in NEC Electronics’ booth #B32 in
Exhibit Hall B.
Pricing
and Availability
Evaluation boards for the 78K0 are available now, and
additional boards for 78K0R and V850ES will be added in
early 2007, priced from US$150. The software development
kits will be available in early 2007, priced at US$980.
Pricing and availability are subject to change. NEC
Electronics and Skyley Networks anticipate sales of more
than 1,000 licenses of the SDK by 2010.
About
ZigBee
ZigBee is a wireless network technology that enables
long lifetime with low power consumption, using dry
batteries. The technology is well-suited for a wide
range of building automation, industrial automation,
medical and residential control & monitoring
applications.
About NEC
Electronics
NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) specializes in
semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology
solutions for the high-end computing and broadband
networking markets, system solutions for the mobile
handset, PC peripherals, automotive and digital consumer
markets, and platform solutions for a wide range of
customer applications. NEC Electronics Corporation has 24
subsidiaries worldwide including NEC Electronics
America, Inc. (www.am.necel.com)
and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH (www.eu.necel.com).
For additional information about NEC Electronics
worldwide, visit
www.necel.com.
NEC Electronics is a member of the
ZigBee Alliance as a participant.
About Skyley Networks Inc.
Skyley Networks
was established in 2001, and specialized in the "P2P" (Peer-to-Peer)
protocol network technologies. Skyley Networks rolled
out its proprietary P2P protocol, “DECENTRA“, in 2002,
and has accumulated an enormous amount of experience in
P2P applications over wireless LAN and Bluetooth.
Additional information about Skyley Networks can be
found at
www.skyley.com.
Skyley Networks is a member of
the ZigBee Alliance as an adopter.
About Uniband Electronic Corporation
UBEC is an international fabless semiconductor company
specializing in the design and manufacture of ICs
for wireless applications. With its headquarters in Hsin-Chu
Taiwan and an office in Silicon Valley, U.S.A. UBEC
offers various RF solutions tailored to our customers'
and partners' needs. Our mission is to develop high
quality products with competitive price-and-performance
ratio and time-to-market advantages for our customers.
Being "customer-oriented" has always been the spirit of UBEC's people
and at UBEC customer always comes first. For more
information, visit the UBEC website at
www.ubec.com.tw
.
UBEC is a member of the ZigBee
Alliance as a participant.
# # #
ZigBee is a trademark of the ZigBee Alliance.
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