Taiwan's WinBond Licences ARM Core For Networking Applications
CAMBRIDGE, UK AND HSINCHU, TAIWAN – Apr. 29, 2003 – ARM, [(LSE:ARM) (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, and Winbond, Taiwan's largest supplier of integrated circuits, today announced at N+I, Las Vegas, NV., that Winbond has licensed the ARM946E-S™ microprocessor core for IA and networking applications, such as printer servers, file servers, IP Cam for information appliances and residential gateways for broadband access. Winbond previously licensed the ARM7TDMI® core and the licensing of this core further demonstrates Winbond's commitment to the ARM® architecture.
Current analog modem technology is not suited to the increasing memory demands of applications such as streaming video, MP3 files, digital photographs, video-on-demand, and online gaming. Instead, residential gateways will give home users access to a wide array of rich, Internet-based content. They will also enable consumers to quickly and easily create home networks by connecting audio devices, PCs, PDAs, cameras, and other digital appliances. Other benefits are added server and storage functions that enable home security and automation, utility monitoring and control, interactive electronic gaming and online commerce.
"More and more people using technology in the home expect fast, inexpensive access to the Internet, and this demand is driving the development of ever more powerful devices. Our ongoing partnership with ARM is key to enabling this vision," said Stephen Huang, assistant vice president of Winbond. "The high performance, low-power ARM946E-S core enables Winbond to move the Internet deeper into the home, giving us the flexibility we need to provide video and audio decoding, as well as efficient home networking for multimedia content."
Winbond Electronics Corporation was established in Hsinchu in 1987, and has since grown to become Taiwan's leading branded semiconductor company, designing and fabricating its own logic ICs and also non-volatile memory and DRAM ICs, as well as supplying these technologies to other manufacturers. Winbond is also a significant supplier of networking ICs, and has licensed the ARM946E-S microprocessor core to develop future networking products. Taiwan has one of the highest rates of broadband penetration in the world, with almost 20 percent of Internet users having high-speed broadband access, according to figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
"Through ARM's partnership with industry leaders such as Winbond, we have built a strong network of Partners in Taiwan," said Philip Lu, country president, ARM Taiwan. "Winbond became an ARM Partner in 2001 when it licensed the ARM7TDMI® core, and this second license demonstrates its continuing commitment to the ARM® architecture. The applications and end devices that are possible with cores such as the ARM946E-S processor, with its advanced media processing capabilities, will keep Winbond at the forefront of technology."
Winbond plans to have residential gateway products based on the ARM946E-S core available by the end of the year. The product will also work as a VPN router. It has a USB1.1 host port so it will also work as an IP Cam as well as a printer or file server.
About Winbond
Winbond Electronics Corporation was founded in 1987 and is based in the Hsinchu Science-Based Park, Taiwan. It has since become the largest branded IC Company in Taiwan, offering a broad range of micro controller-based consumer IC, PC and peripheral ICs, network access IC and memory ICs. Winbond is a market leader in PC I/O controllers and speech synthesizers in Taiwan and East Asia. Currently, Winbond has three wafer fabs in operation and utilizes process technology down to 0.13 micron. With more than 3,800 employees worldwide, the Company has subsidiaries in San Jose, USA; Japan; Hong Kong and Shanghai, China. Further information is available at: www.winbond.com. |
