NTT DOCOMO, Renesas, Fujitsu, and Sharp to Jointly Develop Platform for HSUPA Mobile Phone

Products & Services

TOKYO, October 16, 2008 - NTT DOCOMO, INC., Renesas Technology Corp., Fujitsu Limited, and Sharp Corporation today announced that they plan to jointly develop the SH-Mobile G4 single-chip LSI device, and a platform incorporating it, to support the HSUPA1/HSDPA2/W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (2G) mobile telephony standards. Development of the platform is targeted for completion by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 (January-March 2010).

The new SH-Mobile G4 will be fabricated with 45-nm process technology to enable highly integrated functions and extra-fast processing. It will provide enhanced functionality and improved performance for applications handling HD3 video and 3-D graphics. In addition to HSDPA cat.8 for extra-fast downlink speeds (max. 7.2 Mbps), the SH-Mobile G4 will support HSUPA to boost uplink speeds to a maximum of 5.7 Mbps, almost 15 times faster than the conventional 384kbps speeds, thereby enabling much faster bidirectional data transfers.

In 2004 NTT DOCOMO and Renesas began joint development work on the SH-Mobile G series of single-chip LSI devices, which integrate a baseband processor that supports dual-mode communication and an application processor. The SH-Mobile G4 will be the fourth product to emerge from this collaboration.

The joint development work by NTT DOCOMO and Renesas on single-chip LSI devices has since progressed to include handset manufacturers such as Fujitsu and Sharp as partners in the development of mobile phone platforms4. Each platform has a SH-Mobile G series product as the core component and includes a basic software suite (OS, middleware, and drivers) and a reference chipset in a single package. By using the new platforms, mobile phone manufacturers can eliminate the need to develop basic functions independently, significantly reducing development time and costs. This allows them to invest more time and resources in developing distinctive handset features and expanding their product portfolios.

Renesas plans to provide the platform to the worldwide mobile phone market, in addition to customers in Japan.

Footnotes:
  1. HSUPA: High-Speed Uplink Packet Access. An enhanced and higher-speed version of the 3G W-CDMA uplink (terminal to base station) data communication standard.
  2. HSDPA: High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. An enhanced and higher-speed version of the 3G W-CDMA downlink (base station to terminal) data communication standard.
  3. HD: High Definition. This term is applied to devices and media that support high-definition imaging.
  4. Mobile phone platform: A mobile phone base system that includes hardware, such as a baseband processor for required communication functions, and software.

Note: The names of products, companies, and brands mentioned in this document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Block diagram of proposed mobile phone platform:
Block diagram of proposed mobile phone platform:
About NTT DOCOMO
NTT DOCOMO is the world's leading mobile communications company. DOCOMO serves over 53 million customers, including 45 million people subscribing to FOMA™, launched as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA in 2001. DOCOMO also offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode™, the world's most popular mobile e-mail/Internet service, used by 48 million people. With the addition of credit-card and other e-wallet functions, DOCOMO mobile phones have become highly versatile tools for daily life. NTT DOCOMO is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.docomo.ne.jp/english.

i-mode, FOMA and mova are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DOCOMO, INC. in Japan and other countries.
NTT DOCOMO's FOMA service is only available to subscribers in Japan.

About Renesas Technology
Renesas Technology Corp. is one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (Audio Visual) markets and the world's No.1 supplier of microcontrollers. It is also a leading provider of LCD Driver ICs, Smart Card microcontrollers, RF-ICs, High Power Amplifiers, Mixed Signal ICs, System-on-Chip (SoC) devices, System-in-Package (SiP) products and more. Established in 2003 as a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, NYSE:HIT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE:6503), Renesas Technology achieved consolidated revenue of 951 billion JPY in FY2007 (end of March 2008). Renesas Technology is based in Tokyo, Japan and has a global network of manufacturing, design and sales operations in around 20 countries with about 26,800 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit http://www.renesas.com
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com.
About Sharp
Sharp Corporation is a worldwide developer of innovative products and core technologies that play a key role in shaping the future of electronics. As a leader in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and digital technologies , Sharp offers one of the broadest and most advanced lines of consumer electronics, information products and electronic components, while also creating new network businesses. Sharp Corporation employs about 60,600 people in the world (as of August 31st, 2008) and recorded consolidated annual sales of 3,417,736 million yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For more information, please visit Sharp's Web site at http://sharp-world.com/index.html.

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