MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & AUSTIN,
Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2003--MIPS Technologies, Inc. a
leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for
digital consumer and business applications, and Cirrus Logic, Inc., a leading
semiconductor supplier of solutions for digital entertainment electronics,
announced today that Cirrus has taken a license for a range of MIPS
Technologies' 32-bit processor cores, including the MIPS32(TM) 4KEc(TM),
4KEm(TM), 4KEp(TM) and M4K(TM) cores.
A market leader in its core mixed-signal and
digital technologies, Cirrus is active in the development of innovative digital
entertainment applications such as DVD players, receivers and recorders,
personal video recorders (PVRs) and audio/video receivers (AVRs). As a MIPS
licensee, Cirrus benefits from the software applications optimized for the MIPS
architecture. Related applications for the DVD market include DVD Navigation,
DVD Recording, Advance Programming Guide, Still Image Viewing and Audio
Enhancement algorithms. The enhanced features enabled by these applications are
opening up new possibilities, such as interactive services, for consumers to
enjoy an integrated digital entertainment experience.
Growth in DVD markets, made largely of player-only
units to date, is expected to be led by emerging recording technologies for
DVD-R and PVR products. In-Stat estimates that DVD-R sales will reach 32 million
units by 2006 with the PVR market showing strong growth with sales estimated at
17 million units by 2006. Cirrus announced a DVD+RW reference design at the
Consumer Electronics Show 2003 and is actively developing PVR products.
"MIPS Technologies' high-performance product line
was a starting point in our decision to license cores from the company. It was
their keen awareness of the issues we face in designing advanced products for
the highly competitive digital entertainment market and the impressive
combination of tools and applications optimized for the DVD segment that helped
close the deal," said H. Ravindra, a founder of Cirrus Logic and currently vice
president of advanced technology and business development. "We expect that this
combination of performance and applications, when coupled with our extensive
systems knowledge and System-On-A-Chip expertise, will enable us to drive new
market opportunities and deliver superior digital entertainment solutions that
will tangibly enhance the end user's experience."
"The performance of the MIPS architecture has been
enhancing the user experience in a wide range of applications for over 20
years," said Jack Browne, vice president of worldwide sales for MIPS
Technologies. "We are delighted to have a market leader like Cirrus Logic
endorse not only the performance of our cores, but the robust ecosystem of
optimized applications and software available on the MIPS architecture for the
digital entertainment market. Their proven track record as an innovative player
and market share leader in a wide range of digital entertainment applications,
most recently in the market for DVD Recorders and PVRs, makes their support of
the MIPS architecture very rewarding. Ultimately, the consumer will benefit from
this relationship."
About Cirrus Logic, Inc.
Cirrus Logic is a premier supplier of
high-performance analog, mixed-signal and digital processing solutions for
consumer entertainment electronics, automotive entertainment and industrial
product applications. Building on its global market leadership in audio ICs and
its rich mixed-signal patent portfolio, Cirrus Logic targets audio, video and
precision mixed-signal applications in these growing markets. The company
operates from headquarters in Austin, Texas, with offices in California,
Colorado, Europe, Japan and Asia. More information about Cirrus Logic is
available at www.cirrus.com.
About MIPS Technologies, Inc.
MIPS Technologies is a leading provider of
industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and
business applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance
that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. The company licenses
its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers and system
OEMs. MIPS Technologies and its licensees offer the widest range of robust,
scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific
products. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at
650/567-5000 or www.mips.com.
Source: Yahoo.com
