Mitsubishi licenses synthesizable ARM core for digital consumer ICs

Mitsubishi licenses synthesizable ARM core for digital consumer ICs
By J. Robert Lineback, Semiconductor Business News
January 26, 2000 (11:18 a.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20000126S0014

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. today licensed a synthesizable microprocessor core from ARM Holdings plc for highly integrated ICs in next-generation digital consumer products.

Mitsubishi said it plans to make available system-level devices based on the ARM7TDMI-S core in 2001. The licensing pact is part of the company's strategy to strengthen its system-on-chip business by combining intellectual property (IP) from outside companies with its own internal technology, such as its high-capacity embedded memory, called eRAM. This mixture of building blocks will give chip developers cost-effective, power-efficient ASIC solution, said Mitsubishi.

The synthesizable version of ARM's widely licensed ARM7TDMI core will enable Mitsubishi to quickly integrate and "tune" the RISC processor block to its manufacturing processes, said Koji Tsuchihashi, general manager of the company's System LSI Division. "We can continue our push into the digital consumer aren a by rapidly deploying a range of devices for a wide variety of applications," he added.

Mitsubishi said the licensing agreement with Cambridge, England-based ARM expands its portfolio so that it will be able to respond to the needs of a wider range of customers while targeting the rapidly growing market for digital home appliances. ARM processors range in performance from 60 MHz (54 million instructions per second) to 300 MHz (more than 400 MIPS).