LSI Logic Announces First Silicon of the ARM9E Processor Core With Enhanced Signal Processing

IP News

MILPITAS, Calif., Jan. 19 -- LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today announced the availability of the first ARM9E(TM) processor core in silicon. Using its CoreWare® design methodology, LSI Logic has successfully integrated ARM's ARM9E core and Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM9) into an ASIC test chip, and is now accepting ARM9E core-based designs in its G12(TM), 0.18-micron process technology.

The ARM9E core combines both control and digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities in a single processor architecture, providing an optimized processing solution for many applications. LSI Logic offers both the ARM946E(TM) core and ARM966E(TM) core members of the ARM9E family, which include cached and un-cached memory subsystems, respectively. The additional ETM9 logic provides comprehensive real-time trace functionality that is essential in applications such as hard disk drives.

LSI Logic is already engaged with key customers on ARM9E core-based designs and is targeting the solution at mass storage, digital cellular and voice over IP (VoIP) telephony markets.

``LSI Logic is excited about the ARM9E core because it seamlessly extends our ARM® performance portfolio, and is a significant addition to our library of synthesized CoreWare® macrocells,'' said Bob Van Steenburgh, director of Processor Core Marketing, at LSI Logic. ``The ARM9E core has already proven to be an enabling factor for key customer design wins in the mass storage, wireless and networking markets.''

``LSI Logic has been a long time partner with ARM, aggressively building in-house expertise with ARM's microprocessor architecture and broadening their ARM® core portfolio,'' said Reynette Au, vice president of Marketing at ARM. ``As the first ARM Partner to publicly announce silicon availability for the ARM9E processor family, LSI Logic opens the door for customers seeking high-performance, power-efficient silicon solutions for mass storage and VoIP applications.''

LSI Logic Corporation was also the first ARM silicon partner to license the ARM946E and ARM966E macrocells. These cores extend LSI Logic's ARM portfolio to address increasing demand for ARM core-based system-on-chip (SoC) designs in a broad range of high performance markets.

About the ARM9E Core

On June 14, 1999, LSI Logic announced that it had licensed the ARM9E processor core from ARM. The ARM9E single-processor solution includes enhanced signal processing capabilities, enabling reduced system cost, chip complexity and power consumption, with faster time-to-market. The core is an excellent high-level language target, increasing programmer productivity and lowering software development costs. With the ARM9E core, designers use a single, integrated software development and debug environment for DSP and microcontroller software. The single processor solution also eliminates the need for interprocessor communications and synchronization structures, and removes duplication in many areas including memory system components, buses and on-chip trace and debug resources.

About LSI Logic Corporation

LSI Logic Corporation is a leading supplier of communications chips for broadband, data networking, wireless and set-top box applications. In addition, the company provides chips and boards for products that comprise the Internet infrastructure, and supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1551 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035, 408-433-8000, www.lsilogic.com.

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