Sharp taps Parthus' Java accelerator for system-on-chip products

Sharp taps Parthus' Java accelerator for system-on-chip products
By Semiconductor Business News
January 31, 2002 (2:42 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020131S0077

CAMAS, Wash. -- Sharp Electronics Corp.'s U.S. chip subsidiary here announced is has licensed a Java acceleration platform from Parthus Technologies plc of Ireland, to accelerate the introduction of system-on-chip products for "PC-equivalent performance" on handheld devices.

Under the agreement, Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas will pay Parthus a license and royalties for the MachStream Java platform. Last February, the Sharp subsidiary licensed Parthus' InfoStream PDA/Smartphone platform as part of its strategy to penetrate Web-enabled mobile devices. Terms of the licensing agreement were not released.

The Parthus MachStream Java platform has been designed to provide PC-equivalent performance in mobile systems while consuming no more battery power than existing personal digital assistants (PDAs). Dublin-based Parthus said the platform can increase application speeds on PDAs by 1o-to-35 times and update information on the fly. In a li ve environment, stock quotes downloaded from the Internet onto a mobile device take two seconds with MachStream compared with 17 seconds without the acceleration platform, according to the company.

"MachStream combined with InfoStream single-handedly eliminates the trade-off between power consumption and performance that constantly challenges the mobile computing industry," stated Kevin Fielding, president of Parthus.