CAMAS, WA - February 12, 2001 - Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA) -- a division of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan -- has been designated the parent company's North American design center for microcontrollers (MCU) and system-on-chip (SoC) products.

SMA expects to demonstrate the capabilities of its first MCU and SoC designs at the Embedded Systems Conference in April 2001.

The decision to operate a design center in North America is a departure for Sharp, which previously designed all products in Japan. The Camas, Washington-based team of engineers will now be responsible for thedesign of 8-, 16-, and 32-bit MCU / SoC products based on market- and customer-driven requirements.

SMA has completed licensing agreements for the ARM 7TDMI-S, ARM 720T and ARM 922T, as well as the 8051 E-Warp to provide the foundation for MCU and SoC development. Products designed in Camas will be manufactured in production level quantities within Sharp Corporation internal facilities and foundries throughout the world.