News &
Events: In the News
STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments Joined by ARM and
Nokia as Founding Members of MIPI Alliance to Define Open Standards
for Mobile Application Processors New MIPI Alliance Will
Encompass Broad Range of Industry Leaders to Accelerate Adoption
of Application-Rich Mobile Products
- MIPI Alliance is a new entity created by ARM, Nokia, ST and
TI that will define an open standard for mobile processor interfaces.
- MIPI Alliance is an evolution of the OMAPI (SM) standard created
by ST and TI.
- MIPI Alliance is encouraging other companies in the mobile industry
to join and promote open standards for processor interfaces.
July 29, 2003 – The Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI)
Alliance, a new industry initiative that will define and promote
open standards for interfaces to mobile application processors,
was announced today by founding members ARM, [(LSE:ARM) (Nasdaq:ARMHY)],
Nokia (NYSE: NOK), STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) and Texas Instruments
Incorporated [(NYSE:TXN) (TI)]. The MIPI Alliance is a response
to the broad interest in the OMAPI (SM) standard launched by ST
and TI in December 2002.
OMAPI was formed by TI and ST to standardize interfaces for mobile
application processors. The response to this initiative was very
strong and indicated the need for a more representative formal industry
organization. As a result, the new MIPI Alliance has been established
as an incorporated not-for-profit entity that will include a wide
range of member companies with the common goal of defining and promoting
open, standard specifications for application processor interfaces.
By establishing consistency in application processor interfaces,
the alliance expects to ease implementation and design of hardware
and software, promoting reuse and compatibility in mobile devices
to accelerate time-to-market.
“Mobile device users and wireless carriers are demanding a
rapidly changing set of features and functions,” said Allen
Leibovitch, IDC’s Wireless Semiconductor Research Manager.
“Standards like the MIPI Alliance can allow mobile device
manufacturers and their semiconductor and software providers to
more easily combine their best components and features and bring
compelling products to market in a shorter time.”
The MIPI Alliance is actively recruiting member companies such as
handset manufacturers, semiconductor companies, hardware peripheral
manufacturers, operating system (OS) vendors, middleware vendors
and software application developers to help define and promote the
adoption of the new standard.
As part of the MIPI Alliance, 10 working groups will be established
to develop specifications in key areas such as camera and display
interface, software abstraction, communications interface and system
control.
The MIPI Alliance is structured to provide multiple levels of membership,
in which benefits are proportional to contributions. Basic levels
of membership enable use of specifications, while other levels of
membership enable participation in working groups to define specifications.
The MIPI Alliance expects to announce new members in the third quarter
of 2003. More information including membership details on the MIPI
Alliance is on http://www.mipi.org.
# # #
Quotes from Founding Members
“By joining this new industry association, ARM will enable
its global Partners to become involved at multiple levels of membership
and in the working groups. The MIPI Alliance goals will enable the
faster adoption of smart phones, reducing the barriers that exist
today through simplifying the supply chain for mobile terminals,”
said Mike Inglis, executive vice president of marketing at ARM.
“ARM will upgrade its PrimeXsys™ Platform to be compliant
with the MIPI standards enabling semiconductor Partners to quickly
develop MIPI-compliant application processors.”
“We see the MIPI Alliance as an excellent forum to speed
up development and time to market for mobile multimedia devices
by defining open standards for application interfaces,” said
Jari Pasanen, Vice President, Nokia Mobile Phones. “This means
that Nokia, and other hardware manufacturers, can deploy interoperable
building blocks faster and at a lower cost.”
“We believe that the MIPI Alliance will drive growth in mobile
multimedia by creating an open standard for application processor
interfaces,” said Guy Lauvergeon, Group VP and General Manager
of STMicroelectronics’ Multimedia Platform Unit. “These
open hardware and software interfaces will reduce the development
time of end products based on future MIPI compliant application
processors like ST’s Nomadik family, enable widespread software
reuse and foster proliferation of standard components.”
“In order to facilitate the success of the mobile services
market, industry leaders must work together to establish open standards
and specifications,” said Alain Mutricy, TI Vice President
and WW OMAP General Manager. “TI will make its OMAP™
application processors compliant with the MIPI standard and work
with the other members of the MIPI Alliance to bring mobile services
to market more quickly while growing the market for the entire mobile
industry value chain.”
About ARM
ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC
microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance,
low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals and system-on-chip
(SoC) designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM
also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete
system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume
RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held
computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More
information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com/.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its
experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions,
the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and
a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility
to the Internet, Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and
further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held
company with listings on six major exchanges. More information on
Nokia is available at www.nokia.com.
About STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering
semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics
applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise,
manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and
strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip
(SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today’s
convergence markets. The Company’s shares are traded on the
New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock
Exchange. In 2002, the Company’s net revenues were $6.32 billion
and net earnings were $429.4 million. Further information on ST
can be found at www.st.com.
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog
technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing
requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses
include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity
Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing,
design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web
at http://www.ti.com.
Trademarks
All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. All other brands
or product names are the property of their respective holders. “ARM”
is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and Nasdaq: ARMHY);
its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries
ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan; ARM France SAS; and
ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements contained in this press release regarding the demand
for MIPI technology, the deployment, adoption, or performance of
MIPI compliant products, standard acceptance and other statements
of the various companies management's beliefs, goals and expectations
may be considered "forward-looking statements" as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by these statements. The following factors and the factors discussed
in Texas Instruments’ most recent Form 10-K and in the Forms
20-F for ARM, Nokia and ST could cause actual results to differ
materially from the statements contained in this press release:
the introduction of new and competitive technologies; changes in
customer intentions or preferences; the companies' ability to meet
manufacturing and capacity demands; and other factors affecting
market growth or production. Any intention or obligation to update
any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring
after the date of this press release are disclaimed.
|