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SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHI), today announced the industry's first Universal Serial Bus (USB) On-The-Go (OTG) prototype compliant with the USB Implementers Forum's (IF) OTG Supplement to the USB 2.0 Specification. This means that USB peripherals are able to connect directly to perform functions that previously required a USB host. For example, USB OTG will offer users the ability to print a picture directly from a digital still camera to a printer, or transfer songs directly between MP3 players.

``The USB On-The-Go Working Group has been working on the specifications of the supplement since July 2000,'' says Terry Remple, chairman of the USB OTG Working Group. ``The OTG supplement, announced on September 5th by the USB Implementers Forum, defines a dual-role device as a device which can operate as either a peripheral or a host, and which implements a range of low power features intended for portable devices. Philips Semiconductors has developed the industry's first operational prototype of a dual-role device, and has successfully fulfilled the requirements of the OTG specifications. This is a new milestone in extending USB applications for embedded systems and peripherals.''

The Philips Semiconductors prototype is based upon our existing USB host and peripheral single chip device, the ISP1161. We have taken the ISP1161 and added some glue and discrete logic to emulate the On-The-Go supplementary requirements. A mini-AB receptacle is used on the board and will accept either a mini-A or mini-B plug. The prototype defaults to behaving as a USB host when the mini-A plug is inserted, or as a USB peripheral when the mini-B plug is inserted. Once connected, two dual-role devices can exchange the roles of host and peripheral by means of the Host Negotiation Protocol (HNP), which is one of the key protocols defined in the supplement.

``Philips Semiconductors continues to demonstrate connectivity leadership with its new USB solutions,'' says Gerhard Heider, general manager of Business Line Connectivity, Philips Semiconductors. ``Philips Semiconductors has been a leading supplier of USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 and we intend to continue to lead USB initiatives as this connectivity capability is enhanced. We have a new family of ICs on our roadmap, scheduled for sampling in Q4 of 2001, that comply with the USB OTG requirements.''

About Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors, with revenues of US $6.3 billion in 2000, is a world leader in silicon systems and standard products for wireless communications, digital entertainment, computing and automotive applications. The organization designs, develops and manufactures silicon solutions based on its innovative Nexperia(TM) architectures to create living technology for its customers creating products, service providers using the products, and consumers enjoying the resulting products and services. For more information: www.semiconductors.philips.com.