June 2, 1999 SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via NewsEdge Corporation --
From: newspage.com
LinkUp Systems Corporation today announced a highly integrated system-on-a-chip solution for the new emerging Internet appliance market.
The highly integrated system chip, code named L7200, is optimized to run on a variety of software platforms including Microsoft's Windows CE operating system. The L7200, which is the result of a technology partnership with LG Semicon, incorporates an ARM720T processor core which features 8kbyte cache, write buffer, memory management unit, together with several highly integrated system peripherals as well as an integrated DSP with it's own instruction cache. The L7200 will be fabricated by LG Semicon on a 0.35 micron process and will be available in Aug. '99.
The L7200 is designed to satisfy the needs of the system designers who require high performance at a very low cost and minimum power dissipation. It is targeted for communication-centric mobile and desktop applications that need Internet connectivity provided by a V.34 or V.90 analog modem. Extensive on-chip power management makes the L7200 a device of choice for Palm-size PC, smart phones, and communicators. High performance color LCD support allows application in desktop screen phones for email and web browsing. The on-chip DSP co-processor provides efficient execution of signal processing tasks such as soft modem, audio compression, JPEG compression, and MP3 decode. The DSP results in significant power savings as compared to native-signal processing on the CPU, which demands very high clock frequency for these tasks. The Thumb(R) mode of the ARM CPU allows high code density reducing ROM/Flash size, thus saving system cost.
The L7200 supports the major standards of mass storage (PC Card, CompactFlash(TM), and MultiMediaCard, and Smart Card) making the device ideal for applications requiring storage and playback of audio (digital answering machine), music (MP3 player), and voice messages (Palm-size PC). The versatile storage facility can also be used for downloading of e-mail from the Internet for later-on review.
An 8-channel DMA controller supports the transfer between system memory and the rich set of on-chip peripheral controllers. These communication controllers include two UARTs, slow/medium/fast IrDA support, master/slave synchronous serial port (SSP), and SPI(TM).
"The L7200 raises the bar in terms of performance, integration, system cost, features, and power dissipation," said Ravi Bhatnagar, President and CEO, LinkUp Systems Corporation. "We believe that the combination of the high-performance system architecture with LinkUp's rich feature set would make the L7200 an ideal device for a host of applications both in mobile and desktop form-factors. The availability of Microsoft Windows CE port to L7200 will help create new market opportunities and many new innovative products."
"ARM is pleased with LinkUp's selection of an ARM core for its L7200 product," said Erik Ploof, Manager, Strategic Programs, ARM. "The L7200 device is a highly integrated solution with an innovative system architecture. This new system-on-chip device is further proof of ARM's position as an industry leader in the portable communications market."
The L7200 comes with complete development system support and integrated debug environment. The development system consists of L7200SDB development board (SDB), which is compliant with Microsoft's Hardware Reference Platform (HARP) specification for Windows CE system development. The system includes Windows CE port, software drivers and OAL. To aid the software development, LinkUp provides low-level driver API (L7200API) in source form. A complete software toolkit (L7200TLK), which is optimized for on-chip DSP co-processor, is also available. The debug environment consists of an ARM debug monitor and Multi-ICE(TM) In-Circuit Emulator through JTAG interface.
"LinkUp Systems' L7200 SDB development system is one of the first development system that meets Microsoft's HARP specification for Windows CE based system development, and the first used internally by our development teams. Its modular design will aid the system OEM to bring its product to market quickly, with flexible and economical configuration choices," commented Mark Svancarek, Microsoft's Hardware Program Manager for Windows CE Product Unit. "We've been completely happy using it."
Samples of L7200 will be available in July with production targeted for August '99. The SDB Development System, L7200 Toolkit, Windows CE drivers, and L7200 API are available now.
About LinkUp Systems
Founded in 1997, LinkUp Systems Corporation provides ARM core-based system-on-silicon products - targeting the fast growing Internet appliance and consumer electronics market. The company's products are optimized for low power portable applications (such as Palm-size PC, Smart phone, and electronic book), high performance desktop solutions (such as Screen phone), and multimedia embedded markets. LinkUp also provides support chips for Intel's StrongARM(R) SA-1100 integrated processor. The company is headquartered at 1190 Coleman Avenue, Suite 2C, San Jose, CA 95110. More information is available at linkupsys.com.
|
