National Semiconductor Introduces New WEBENCH Processor Power Architect at Avnet's Design Strategies for ARM Systems Design Summit

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) today kicked off the Avnet (NYSE: AVT) Design Strategies for ARM Systems Design Summit in Santa Clara with the introduction of its new WEBENCH® Processor Power Architect, the industry's first online design tool to model and optimize power supplies for Atmel Corporation and Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. ARM® processors in minutes.

National's new WEBENCH Processor Power Architect design tool, supporting the company's latest high-efficiency point-of-load regulators and SIMPLE SWITCHER® modules, will be demonstrated in its booth throughout Avnet Electronics Marketing's global technical seminar series, with stops in North America, Europe and Asia through September 2011.

WEBENCH Processor Power Architect incorporates the detailed supply requirements of more than 50 of the newest ARM processors from Atmel and Freescale.  Modern power supply systems, including ARM processors, are complex to design, often incorporating multiple unique loads to drive precisely specified voltages.  In addition to the required voltages and currents, each load may have specific limitations for ripple, noise filtering, synchronization and separation of supplies, as well as start up definitions (soft start).  The power supply designs delivered by WEBENCH incorporate comprehensive power requirements published by the ARM processor manufacturers, giving the designer confidence that their power supplies will meet these constraints while saving critical time in the process.

WEBENCH Processor Power Architect provides the designer with new options to reduce cost and footprint.  To accommodate the low currents associated with ARM processor loads, the designer can select from over 50 low drop-out (LDO) regulators in addition to high efficiency switching regulators.

To begin a design, visit http://national.com/processor_architect.

About National's WEBENCH Design Tools

National's WEBENCH design tools combine powerful software algorithms with a user-friendly visual interface to help design engineers create a power, lighting or sensing circuit or system design in seconds.  Cost-free and offered in six languages, WEBENCH design tools have helped over 1.5 million designers since 1999 tackle complex electronic designs.  Try them at http://www.national.com/webench.

About the Avnet Design Strategies for ARM Systems Design Summit

Avnet's Design Strategies for ARM Systems Design Summit is a global technical seminar series co-sponsored by ARM.  Design engineers will be given the exclusive opportunity to gain a better understanding of ways to harness this emerging mobile technology into current and future designs.  These free, day-long seminars begin in March 2011 and end in September 2011. Registration is open now at http://www.weboom.com/avnet2011/index.html.  Follow this event on Twitter using #Design4ARM.

Note to editors:  To view a high-resolution downloadable photo of this product, visit National's photo gallery at http://www.national.com/analog/pressroom/power.

About National Semiconductor

National Semiconductor is a leader in power management technology. Known for its easy-to-use analog integrated circuits and world-class supply chain, National's high-performance analog products enable its customers' systems to be more energy efficient. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., National reported sales of $1.42 billion for fiscal 2010. Additional information is available at www.national.com.

National Semiconductor, WEBENCH and SIMPLE SWITCHER are registered trademarks of National Semiconductor Corporation.  ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Ltd.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE National Semiconductor Corp.