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Freescale Semiconductor launches SemiCustom
operation to speed customer time to
market
Application- and
customer-specific ICs incorporate Freescale’s scalable SoC platforms,
enhanced
PowerPC®
cores and reusable system blocks
SMART
NETWORKS DEVELOPER FORUM, DALLAS – April 27, 2004 – In an initiative
to help customers get to market faster, Freescale Semiconductor, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT), has launched a SemiCustom operation that
provides application- and customer-specific silicon solutions for the
networking, communications and pervasive computing markets.
Freescale Semiconductor has established the
operation to offer customers the benefits of scalable performance, fast time to
market, and cost-effective silicon solutions through a flexible customer
engagement model. Leveraging Freescale’s scalable PowerPC®
system-on-chip (SoC) platforms, customers are able to further reduce development
costs through easy migration to next-generation system designs and reuse of
software investments in Freescale’s PowerQUICC™ processors
containing PowerPC® cores and its line of PowerPC
processors.
Freescale’s SemiCustom
operation develops highly integrated, customized PowerPC SoC platform designs
built on a foundation of Freescale’s processor cores and system blocks
used in the company’s standard products. The SemiCustom operation
leverages Freescale’s scalable, high-performance PowerPC e300 and e500
cores, DSPs based on StarCore technology, serializer/deserializer (SerDes)
technology, integrated security engines, and mixed-signal portfolio.
With Freescale’s scalable PowerPC SoC
platforms, functional blocks can be quickly added or removed without having to
redesign the entire semiconductor platform. Much of Freescale’s functional
block portfolio is developed in high-level behavioral languages to facilitate
the porting of technologies to future processes. By developing networking and
communications IC products for reuse, the SemiCustom operation is able to
deliver silicon solutions within a 6- to 9-month timeframe. Rapid delivery of
Freescale SemiCustom solutions not only accelerates time to market, it also
enables longer time in market for Freescale customers. In addition, customers
who are already familiar with the PowerPC cores used in Freescale’s
SemiCustom products can continue using their existing development tools and
preserve their overall software
investment.
"Freescale Semiconductor,
Motorola's semiconductor subsidiary, is launching its SemiCustom
operation at an opportune time when system manufacturers are consolidating
silicon suppliers and looking for ways to reduce cost,
streamline development and accelerate time to market with
customizable, platform-based solutions," said Jerry Worchel, a principal analyst
with In-Stat/MDR. "Freescale's scalable SoC platforms, broad technology
portfolio and flexible customer engagement model should serve the company well
as it enters the open semi-custom IC
market."
The SemiCustom operation makes the
following technologies, manufacturing capabilities and services available to
Freescale customers:
- Freescale’s family of
scalable PowerPC e300 and e500 SoC platforms
-
Communications processing engines from the industry-leading PowerQUICC
architecture
- Advanced process and manufacturing
technologies, including Freescale’s 130nm and 90nm CMOS (with roadmaps to
65nm and 45nm), silicon germanium (SiGe), high-performance silicon-on-insulator
(SOI), and multi-layer copper metalization
technologies
- Mixed-signal design expertise,
ranging from highly integrated mixed-signal implementations in standard CMOS to
high-speed designs using BiCMOS technologies
-
Systems engineering expertise to optimize silicon throughput for application
needs
- Industry-leading packaging options spanning
from affordable solutions to high-end flip-chip BGAs
(FCBGAs)
- Flexible customer engagement model using
industry-standard third-party tools.
Freescale
Semiconductor amortizes the cost of its technology through its standard product
portfolio of PowerPC processors, PowerQUICC communication processors, SerDes
devices, connectivity technology, and security cores. Developed both internally
and externally, Freescale’s extensive portfolio of functional blocks is
available to SemiCustom customers without licensing
fees.
Freescale offers a range of flexible IC
customization options. Customer logic can be integrated with a number of
industry-standard peripheral connections and optimized bus integration
structures. Custom combinations of system blocks can be mixed and matched to
suit customer-specific application
needs.
Freescale’s system engineering
services provide customers with SemiCustom solutions optimized for individual
price/performance needs. Freescale engineers have developed extensive models
correlated with silicon performance that enable customers to run performance
simulations on each specific semicustom device. Static and dynamic analysis of
processor and interface usage reveals potential bottlenecks in each
customer’s system. This service allows customers to architect their
solutions in a manner that best suits their application
requirements.
A hallmark of the SemiCustom
operation is Freescale’s flexible engagement model and design flow.
Freescale Semiconductor supports the use of industry-standard third-party tools
to ensure conformance with customer development systems. Freescale design
services are available to accommodate customer inputs from architecture
definition through mask preparation with the option of multiple hand-off points
in the development cycle. With more than 15 years of experience in semicustom
SoC design, Freescale Semiconductor offers design centers worldwide to support
customers in developing SemiCustom
solutions.
Ecosystem Support from Freescale,
Metrowerks and Third Parties
Freescale's
scalable PowerPC SoC platforms are supported by its Metrowerks subsidiary, and
by a comprehensive ecosystem of development tools, operating systems and
applications from third-party vendors working through Freescale's Smart Networks
Alliance Program. Metrowerks provides the hardware, software and tools necessary
to accelerate and streamline development of world-class products based on
Freescale semiconductors. Metrowerks products and services span the development
process, from board bring-up and kernel-level debugging to application creation
and code analysis.
About Freescale
Semiconductor
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.,
(www.Freescale.com) a subsidiary of
Motorola, Inc., has a 50-year history in microelectronics. Freescale
Semiconductor produces semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial,
networking and wireless markets worldwide. Based in Austin, Texas, Freescale
Semiconductor has design, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25
countries. Freescale Semiconductor’s 2003 sales were $4.9 billion
(USD).
# #
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Media
Contacts:
North
America
Dale
Weisman
Freescale
Semiconductor
+1 (512) 996-5142
Office
+1 (512) 560-6197
Mobile
dale.weisman@freescale.com
Kathy
Truesdell
Representing Freescale
Semiconductor
+1 (512) 996-5117
Office
+1 (512) 633-8620
Mobile
truesdel@onr.com
Europe,
Middle East, Africa
Regina
Cirmonova
Freescale
Semiconductor
+41-22-799-1258
regina.cirmonova@motorola.com
Asia
Pacific
Gloria
Shiu
Freescale
+852
2666 8237
gloria.shiu@motorola.com
Japan
Koichi
Yoshimura
Freescale
Semiconductor
+81-3-3280-8672
koichi.yoshimura@motorola.com
Latin
America
Ruth
Ruiz
Freescale
Semiconductor
+1 (480)
814-4897
Ruth.Ruiz@freescale.com
Freescale™
and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
The "PowerPC" name is a trademark of IBM Corp. and used under license. ©
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. 2004.
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