Colorado Springs, CO, July 26, 2006 -- Ramtron International Corp, developer and supplier of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) and integrated semiconductor products, has launched the VRS51L3074 Design Contest, introducing design engineers to the first 8051-based microcontroller with nonvolatile FRAM memory. Ramtron has added FRAM into its fast and flexible Versa 8051s for a quick and reliable nonvolatile data storage and processing system that only a FRAM-enhanced MCU can provide.
"The VRS51L3074 is a breakthrough combination that offers all the advantages of FRAM on a high performance 8051 microcontroller," said Michael Hollabaugh, Ramtron VP of Sales and Marketing. "This contest is intended to encourage engineers to explore how the VRS51L3074 will benefit their application, as well as foster a competitive spirit among their peers."
The contest will run from July 26, 2006 to November 1, 2006. It will take place in four regions -- the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Japan -- with one grand prize and five runner-up prizes per region, for a total of $20,000 in prizes. Contestants must make submission(s) to the region of their residence only. Designs will be judged on technical merit, originality, usefulness, and design optimization.
To participate, contestants must purchase a VersaKit-30xx development system from their local Ramtron distributors at a discounted contest price of $49 instead of $99, available from July 26 to September 29, 2006. The VersaKit-30xx facilitates system prototyping and design development with the VRS51L3074 and ships complete with development board, Versa JTAG programming/debugging interface, demo programs, and the software, C compiler, assembler, and documentation required to develop with the VRS51L3074 MCU.
For complete contest rules and submission forms, please visit www.ramtron.com/contest, or email designcontest@ramtron.com.