ST Micro, Alcatel to co-develop GSM/GPRS chip sets based on DSP core

ST Micro, Alcatel to co-develop GSM/GPRS chip sets based on DSP core
By Semiconductor Business News
February 14, 2002 (1:05 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020214S0027

GEVEVA -- STMicroelectronics Inc. and Alcatel SA today announced an alliance to co-develop future GSM/GPRS chip sets for mobile phones and other wireless connectivity applications.

Under the terms of the agreement Alcatel of Paris is transferring its team of mobile-phone integrated circuit designers to ST. Geneva-based ST will get access to know-how and intellectual property (IP) developed by this group.

The digital baseband chips, to be developed by the Alcatel/ST design team, is based on ST's ST100 digital signal processor (DSP) core. In 2000, Alcatel chose ST's ST1000 as its preferred core for communications applications.

The resulting chip set will be available for the open market. This co-operation also includes a multi-year supply agreement associated with 2.5G chip sets. The additional power of the ST100 will allow enhancements to chip set performance and the implementation of new features.

ST and Alcatel have been partners for many years, jointly developing a large variety of integrated circuits for communications applications.