TI + ARM collaborate for 3G 'phone chipsets
TI licenses new design for 3G cell phone chipsets
DALLAS, July 30 (Reuters) - Texas Instruments Inc (NYSE:TXN - news), the world's
largest maker of computer chips for cell phones, on Monday said it had licensed a new
architecture allowing it to build more powerful sets of chips to run the next generation of cell
phones.
Dallas-based TI said it had collaborated in developing the so-called ARMv6
architecture with British partner ARM Holdings (quote from Yahoo! UK &
Ireland: ARM.L) (NasdaqNM:ARMHY - news)and expected to have chips
on the market in about two years that would handle more data with less
drain on cell batteries.
ARM announced separately it had licensed the design, which allows multiple
semiconductors to be hooked together for faster data processing with less
power usage, to TI as well as computer chip giant Intel Corp
(NasdaqNM:INTC - news).
Gilles Delfassy, senior vice president and general manager of Texas
Instruments' Wireless Business unit, said it would still be a couple of years
before chipsets based on the new architecture are designed and hit the
market.
``The next crank of the wheel, which offers higher performance and better quality data processing, will in the beginning
complement our present solutions...I would say, to give you an order of magnitude, a couple of years (until the new chipsets are
sold),'' Delfassy told a conference call.
Neither TI nor ARM released financial terms of the licensing deal. Both said more technical details of the new architecture would
be unveiled at an October industry conference, the Microprocessor Forum 2001 in San Jose, California.
TI is targeting the next generation of cell phones, so-called 3G phones, and the closer-to-market 2.5G systems.
These networks are supposed to offer far faster data transmission and graphics capability that would allow consumers to surf the
Web and make on-line transactions from cell phones and other wireless devices.
But the roll-out of such technologies has been delayed or postponed by cash-strapped service providers. |
