Atmel Targets Increased Range of Consumer and Industrial Applications with Introduction of Direct or Dial-up Internet Connectivity for Its C51 Flash MCUs

NANTES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 2002--Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML - news) announced today the availability of the @Web(TM) Evaluation Kit based on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack to support dial-up or direct connectivity.

This low cost Evaluation Kit allows designers to connect their existing systems to the internet without any extra CPU costs and demonstrates how easy it is to implement the Internet access on top of their existing software.

Traditionally, price barriers have limited the use of this technology for enabling internet access to embedded platforms and applications such as industrial control equipment, home appliances and alarm systems. However, with the introduction of Atmel's internet-ready C51 Flash Microcontrollers, design engineers can now experience the benefits of providing internet connectivity to a wider spectrum of consumer and industrial applications, with no additional cost as the TCP/IP stack software is licensed free of charge.

The optimized code size of the @Web TCP/IP stack (less than 16 Kbytes) can fit together with the application code on the on-chip 32-Kbyte Flash memory of Atmel C51 MCU. This solution is very cost-effective as the use of dedicated external components is not required.

"The nature of TCP/IP makes the integration into 8-bit microcontrollers quite difficult to realize as it may require a lot of memory resource. Our solution uses the resources of our microcontrollers while minimizing internal memory usage, with no external memory requirement," said Manish Vadher, Marketing Director for C51 Microcontrollers. "We found out that on-chip Flash memory can meet many of the Internet demands including address and data storage, e-mail services and on-line software update. Our customers do not need to break the bank to realize the Web services they desire."

At a suggested resale price of only $249, the @Web Evaluation Kit includes a reference design board based on the cost-effective T89C51AC2, a 32-Kbyte ISP Flash C51 microcontroller with A/D converter, an RS232 serial interface, a V.34 one-chip Modem, a PC serial cable and documentation on a CD-ROM which includes Internet services application routines to create customer specific applications like SMTP, HTTP, FTP.

In the near future, Atmel will extend its TCP/IP offering to the whole C51 microcontroller product line.

Explanation of the protocols supported:

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) server for displaying Web pages

    FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server for remote up and downloading
    files

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) client for sending e-mail

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) transport layer protocol

IP (Internet Protocol) network layer protocol

@Web(TM) optimized TCP/IP stack for C51

    ISP Flash Microcontrollers ISP (In-System Programming) to allow
    program update on the application

About Atmel

Founded in 1984, Atmel Corporation is headquartered in San Jose, California with manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe. Atmel designs, manufactures and markets worldwide, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and RF semiconductors. Atmel is also a leading provider of system-level integration semiconductor solutions using CMOS, BiCMOS, SiGe, and high-voltage BCDMOS process technologies.

Note to Editors: Atmel, the Atmel logo and combinations thereof and others contained herein, are trademarks of Atmel Corporation. Terms and product names in this document may be the trademarks of others.

Information

Atmel @Web(TM) TCP/IP Evaluation Kit information may be retrieved at http://www.atmel.com/atmel/acrobat/doc4002.pdf Request may be sent via e-mail to literature@atmel.com or by visiting Atmel's website at www.atmel.com.

     Atmel Corporation
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     Etienne Beneteau, +33-2-40-18-18-61
     Product Marketing Manager -- Microcontrollers
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     Philippe Faure, +33-2-40-18-18-87
     Marketing Communication Manager -- Microcontrollers
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