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Press Releases
2005.11.17

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Renesas Technology Embeds ACCESS IrFront™ v2.1 in a Single-Chip LSI, Delivers 4Mbps Infrared Communications Solutions for FOMA™ Handsets

High Speed Infrared Communications to Enable Transmission of Large Volumes of Data via FOMA Handsets

TOKYO, Japan – November 17, 2005 – ACCESS Co., Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813), a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies and Renesas Technology Corp., a world-leading semiconductor company providing system solutions, today announced that they have partnered to provide a 4Mbps infrared communications solution for FOMA mobile handsets. The solution will consist of a baseband and an application processor as a single-chip LSI, developed jointly by Renesas Technology and NTT DoCoMo for FOMA handsets, embedded with ACCESS’ infrared communication protocol stack IrFrontv2.1.

In order to drive adoption of FOMA handsets in global markets, Renesas Technology partnered with NTT DoCoMo in July 2004 to develop a dual-mode single-chip LSI compatible with both the W-CDMA (3G) and GSM/GPRS (2G) standards.

ACCESS’ infrared protocol stack IrFront v2.1 together with Renesas Technology’s single-chip LSI, will increase the infrared personal area network (PAN) transmission speed of FOMA mobile handsets from 115 kbps to 4 Mbps. As a result, users will be able to transmit large volumes of data at four to 10 times the speed of the infrared on existing FOMA handsets. This means users will be able to send graphical data or even entire address books in a single transmission.

In addition, because IrFront v2.1 will be compatible with IrSimple, a global standard aimed at increasing infrared-based data transmission speeds, users can expect even higher transmission speeds in the future. ACCESS plans to announce an IrSimple-compatible version on January of 2006.

Renesas Technology and ACCESS will collaborate on the adoption of FOMA and 3G mobile handsets from the infrared communications development stage, as well as the promotion and support of these standards.

“This LSI integrates the dual baseband for W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS communications and application processor SH-Mobile in a single-chip, and with clock frequencies of 312MHz, enabling such advanced features as 5M pixel cameras, TV output and video telephony,” said Hideo Inayoshi, senior vice president of Renesas Technology. “The chip delivers the benefits of lower cost as well as lower power consumption. By embedding IrFront, which has a track record of success and a superb reputation in the market, we can now enable 4 Mbps infrared communications and deliver an even more attractive single-chip solution to the market.”

“We are pleased that ACCESS’ IrFront has been adopted in Renesas Technology’s LSI,” said Toru Arakawa, president and CEO of ACCESS. “By combining our technologies, mobile users will be able to transmit data leveraging high speed infrared communications and benefit from a great mobile experience.”

About ACCESS
ACCESS is a global provider of Internet technologies to the mobile and beyond-PC markets. Its NetFrontbrowser, widely recognized as one of the most advanced Internet browsers in the world, is a cornerstone to the company’s vision of enabling Internet access anywhere and on any device. NetFront technologies are delivering full Internet browsing and related services to next-generation mobile devices and consumer electronics ranging from digital TV to automobile telematics. For more information: www.access.co.jp or www.access-us-inc.com.

About Renesas Technology
Renesas Technology Corp. designs and manufactures highly integrated semiconductor system solutions for mobile, automotive and PC/AV markets. Established on April 1, 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503) and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Renesas Technology is one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world and the world’s leading microcontroller supplier globally. Besides microcontrollers, Renesas Technology offers flash memories, system-in-package and system-on-chip devices, Smart Card ICs, mixed-signal products, SRAMs and more. https://www.renesas.com

ACCESS and IrFront are trademark or registered trademark of ACCESS Co., Ltd. in Japan and other countries.
FOMA is trademark or registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Asia Contact:
ACCESS Co., Ltd., Japan
Kyoko Obara
+81 (3) 5259-3685
prinfo@access.co.jpcom
China Contact:
Access China Inc.
Delia Liu
+86 (10) 6566-9636
delia.liu@accesschina.com.cn
Europe Contact:
ACCESS Systems Europe GmbH
Claudia Hoeck
+49 (208) 8290-6432
hoeck@access-sys-eu.com
US Contacts:
ACCESS Co., Ltd. U.S. Branch
Manuel Morales mmorales@access-us-inc.com