National Semiconductors has announced its next generation of the National Geode family of Net appliance (IA) processors.

This comprises three specific single chip devices designed for: set top boxes (the SC1200); thin clients (the SC2200); and personal access devices (the SC3200).

The Net appliance market is expected to grow 60 percent per year over the next five years until it approaches one billion units by 2005.

Nat Semi's reference designs, based on its Geode technology, have been built into more than 100 appliances currently in production or development.

The Specs:

The SC1200 is based around a Geode GX1 32-bit, x86-compatible processor module, and includes a TV processor with four 10-bit video DACs, CCIR656 video input port, IDE bus, three USB ports and a periphery of UARTs and general purpose I/O's. The SC1200 combines advanced CPU performance with MMX support, fully accelerated 2D graphics, a 64-bit synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) interface, and an internal PCI bus controller.

The Geode SC2200 processor is also based on the Geode GX1 32-bit, x86-compatible processor module, a CRT and TFT video processor, core logic and a Super I/O block. It specifically designed for thin clients that are integrated into a flat-panel display.

The SC3200 includes a Geode GX1 32-bit processor, a TFT video processor with a hardware video accelerator, three USB ports, Core Logic and Super I/O functionality. The power dissipation of the chip is less than two watts under typical operating conditions. The SC3200 combines advanced CPU performance with MMX™ support, fully accelerated 2D graphics, a memory controller with 64-bit SDRAM interface and PCI bus and display controllers. ®