Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc. jumped into the wireless game and into competition with Texas Instruments Inc. after introducing a Micro Signal Architecture that integrates digital signal processor and microcontroller features in a single platform.
The architecture is optimized for processing modem, audio, video, image and voice signals in mobile devices. It lends itself to efficient compilation of high-level programming languages, and it can change a device’s voltage output and enhance multimedia applications, said Hans Geyer, vice president of Intel and general manager of the company’s cellular communications group.
“The DSP core will naturally proliferate throughout Analog Devices’ general purpose DSP portfolio. We will also use the core in chipset solutions that integrate our high-performance analog, DSP and radio-frequency technology,” said Jerry Fishman, president and chief executive officer of Analog Devices.
Geyer said the goal of the partnership is to enable the communication software development to be separated from the actual computer function.
TI currently holds a 60-percent market share in DSP design and manufacturing, according to Jeff Wender, spokesman for TI. Intel’s foray into the market could bite into that share, but Wender said Intel has a long way to go before it will offer the same quantity and quality of product.
“We have found the optimal solution to deliver the kind of performance that is required in wireless devices,” while at the same time addressing power efficiency issues, Wender commented.
Bob Carl, marketing manager for TI’s wireless business unit, noted Intel’s announcement only encompasses the core architecture, and not the chips themselves.
“They’ve got a core, but it’s just a core. It’s not a device and it’s not available to the market. It takes a while to take a core and integrate it into a chip and then into a customer product,” Carl said.
Wender said Intel’s initiative would stimulate competition and put pressure on TI to continue to improve its product. Intel’s ramped-up wireless efforts are positive for all its competitors, he added.
Intel said the new architecture will play a vital role in its Personal Internet Client Architecture. This architecture essentially gives wireless device makers a free blueprint of wireless handsets, which, of course, depend on Intel chips.
TI has a similar architecture called the Open Multimedia Application Platform that Nokia Corp., Ericsson Inc., Sony Corp. and others already have agreed to adopt.
As a result of the announcement, developers can access specifications and development tools for the new core architecture through a joint Web site. Silicon of the core will be released to Analog Devices and Intel development partners early next year, the companies said.
Products based on the core from Analog Devices and Intel will be developed and marketed separately, but all products from both companies will be compatible at the assembly source and binary code levels. These products are expected to ship during the next 12 months.
In related news, Intel announced the Intel Communications Fund will expand its charter to support Intel’s wireless and computing efforts, increasing from $200 million to $500 million.
The fund was established in September 1999 to invest in companies developing networking and communications technologies that are complementary to the Intel Internet Exchange Architecture and CT Media software, Intel said.
