IBM and SGS-Thomson join forces for systems-on-a-chip.....................
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted at 11 a.m.EDT/8 a.m. PDT, 7/8/98
IBM and STMicroelectronics to jointly
develop systems-on-a-chip
PARIS -- IBM Corp. and STMicroelectronics today announced a joint
effort which will accelerate development of advanced system-on-chip
products. The two companies have concluded agreements to exchange
intellectual property (IP) and jointly develop ICs for current and future
data-storage applications and PC compatible information appliances.
"We are at the beginning of a revolution that will deliver multimedia and
information services to a huge audience and our partnership with IBM will
help accelerate this movement by developing system-on-chip products that
meet mass market price/performance demands," said Pasquale Pistorio,
President and CEO of STMicroelectronics (formerly SGS-Thomson) here.
"This agreement clearly positions both companies ahead of their competitors
to deliver the best ICs for hard disk drives and also the new ICs for
advanced information appliances, that are possible only thanks to our
combined system-on-chip IP, technologies and products."
To develop and build advanced system-on-chip products, the two
companies have clearly identified the need for combined access to a rich
portfolio of IP in addition to their present advanced process technologies,
design tools and methodologies.
The IP necessary to address the applications areas identified by IBM and
ST is varied and complex. It may include microprocessor and
microcontroller cores, digital signal processors (DSPs), memory blocks,
communications cores, sound and video cores and many of the other
functions necessary for machine and human communications, such as
high-speed serial interfaces.
IBM and ST have agreed to cooperate on the development of ICs for data
storage, with a particular focus on hard disk drives. Specifically, ST will gain
access to IBM's PowerPC technology and IBM to ST's leadership next
generation DSPs for hard disk drives and CMOS read channel technologies.
ST and IBM are combining their resources to enhance these technologies
and help customers to use these and other cores plus the customer's hard
disk controller logic to create super-integration ICs.
In addition, using ST's approach of PC-on-a-chip and the common x86
microprocessor core road map, both ST and IBM will bring to market a
family of "computer-on-a-chip" products that will enable customers to
quickly build small, very powerful, multi-function information appliances. The
two companies have also concluded a full patent cross-licensing agreement,
to permit access to one of the largest IP bases in the industry. Both
companies are recognized in the industry as owners of rich patent portfolios.
With common agreement each partner will have access to a wealth of further
IP that will give considerable freedom to designers creating new
system-on-chip products with a wide spectrum of functionality.
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