News Article
Fujitsu And Toshiba Have Agreed To Explore Comprehensive Collaboration On
Fujitsu and Toshiba have agreed to explore comprehensive collaboration on
system-on-chip (SoC) solutions at 100nm and finer. The companies will
establish several joint working groups to investigate collaboration in areas
such as standardisation of design and development platforms and silicon
technology; co-development of processor cores and other intellectual
property; and joint development of advanced large-scale integration (LSI)
for communications and other fields. The two companies may later seek to
expand the partnership, including the possibility of integrating operations.
The companies have previously worked together - for example on the fast
channel RAM (FCRAM) high-speed memory.
Infineon Technologies, Agere Systems and Motorola are to set up a joint
venture to develop digital signal processor (DSP) technology. Operations are
expected to begin in late summer 2002. The HQ will be in Austin TX with a
subsidiary office in Tel Aviv, Israel. The development is based on
Motorola/Agere's StarCore Joint Design Center, founded 1998, and Infineon's
Carmel architecture.
DuPont Photomasks has signed another agreement (Bulletins 433, May 20, 2002;
436, June 10, 2002) for advanced photomask development - this time with US
network and optoelectronic IC producer Cypress Semiconductor. The companies
have also entered into a separate multi-year supply agreement. DuPont
Photomasks will provide a significant majority of Cypress' photomasks for
commercial production. The collaboration includes development and
qualification of binary and phase-shift photomasks for the 130nm, 90nm and
65nm nodes and phase shifting photomasks for 193nm lithography equipment.
The US MEMS Industry Group trade association for micro-electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS) and microstructures has created a new membership section. The
aim is to include companies that play a supporting role in the design,
fabrication and testing of MEMS technologies, but do not themselves produce
MEMS devices or systems. The new "Supporting Member" category is open to
venture capital firms, law firms, accounting firms, semiconductor equipment
manufacturers, instrumentation companies and other organisations in the US
that support the MEMS industry. This brings the number of membership
categories to three: large members (companies employing more than 500 people
or with annual revenue above $540m), small members (fewer than 500 employees
or annual revenue below $50m) and supporting members.
Infineon Technologies and Micron Technology have agreed to collaborate in
development of CellularRAM memory, a low power pseudo static RAM (PSRAM) for
wireless applications. This device is designed to meet growing memory and
bandwidth demand in future 2.5G and 3G handset designs with SRAM-pin
compatibility and refresh-free operation.
CellularRAM is based on a single transistor DRAM cell as opposed to the
standard six-transistor (6T) SRAM cell. The structure results in a memory
cell that is only one-tenth the size of 6T SRAM. The CellularRAM product
family also includes a new class of products featuring a burst read and
write mode that emulates a Flash interface. The products operate at clock
rates as high as 108MHz, have an initial latency of 60ns and achieve a
sustained bandwidth of 210MBytes/s (1.6Gbits/s).
The intent of the cooperative development agreement is to make CellularRAM
memory a multi-sourced standard. Both companies will produce pin- and
function-compatible products based on a jointly developed specification.
Infineon and Micron plan to make several CellularRAM devices available in
the next 12 months. The first is a 32Mbit device, scheduled for initial
availability in late 2002. The CellularRAM devices are powered from a single
1.8V supply and offer 2.5V and 3.0V I/O voltage options as well.
venture to develop digital signal processor (DSP) technology. Operations are
expected to begin in late summer 2002. The HQ will be in Austin TX with a
subsidiary office in Tel Aviv, Israel. The development is based on
Motorola/Agere's StarCore Joint Design Center, founded 1998, and Infineon's
Carmel architecture.
DuPont Photomasks has signed another agreement (Bulletins 433, May 20, 2002;
436, June 10, 2002) for advanced photomask development - this time with US
network and optoelectronic IC producer Cypress Semiconductor. The companies
have also entered into a separate multi-year supply agreement. DuPont
Photomasks will provide a significant majority of Cypress' photomasks for
commercial production. The collaboration includes development and
qualification of binary and phase-shift photomasks for the 130nm, 90nm and
65nm nodes and phase shifting photomasks for 193nm lithography equipment.
The US MEMS Industry Group trade association for micro-electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS) and microstructures has created a new membership section. The
aim is to include companies that play a supporting role in the design,
fabrication and testing of MEMS technologies, but do not themselves produce
MEMS devices or systems. The new "Supporting Member" category is open to
venture capital firms, law firms, accounting firms, semiconductor equipment
manufacturers, instrumentation companies and other organisations in the US
that support the MEMS industry. This brings the number of membership
categories to three: large members (companies employing more than 500 people
or with annual revenue above $540m), small members (fewer than 500 employees
or annual revenue below $50m) and supporting members.
Infineon Technologies and Micron Technology have agreed to collaborate in
development of CellularRAM memory, a low power pseudo static RAM (PSRAM) for
wireless applications. This device is designed to meet growing memory and
bandwidth demand in future 2.5G and 3G handset designs with SRAM-pin
compatibility and refresh-free operation.
CellularRAM is based on a single transistor DRAM cell as opposed to the
standard six-transistor (6T) SRAM cell. The structure results in a memory
cell that is only one-tenth the size of 6T SRAM. The CellularRAM product
family also includes a new class of products featuring a burst read and
write mode that emulates a Flash interface. The products operate at clock
rates as high as 108MHz, have an initial latency of 60ns and achieve a
sustained bandwidth of 210MBytes/s (1.6Gbits/s).
The intent of the cooperative development agreement is to make CellularRAM
memory a multi-sourced standard. Both companies will produce pin- and
function-compatible products based on a jointly developed specification.
Infineon and Micron plan to make several CellularRAM devices available in
the next 12 months. The first is a 32Mbit device, scheduled for initial
availability in late 2002. The CellularRAM devices are powered from a single
1.8V supply and offer 2.5V and 3.0V I/O voltage options as well.