1999-10-09 , ESC-9987
Business news From Philips Semiconductors

At Geneva Telecom '99, Philips Semiconductors, the largest European Semiconductor manufacturer, announced that it will be adopting its Silicon System Platform (SSP) methodology throughout its telecommunication IC design operations for the rapid design of System on Chip (SOC) ICs. By designing both hardware and software components for re-use, design times of ASICs can be reduced from as much as eighteen months to as little as a month, enabling manufacturers to get their products to market first.

Philips Semiconductors' Telecom Platform is still in the final stages of development but will be based on ARM processors, currently the leading processors for GSM mobile phones, to provide the control and processing functionality and Philips Semiconductors' R.E.A.L. cores for the Digital Signal Processing. Both are specially designed for low cost and low power applications, which are the driving forces for the current generation of mobile phones. Philips Semiconductors can draw on other IP, including OAK and PALM, to meet the demands of smarter phones with more computing capability and more demanding standards such as those required for Third Generation (3G) phones.

"The recent acquisition of VLSI provides us with an additional wealth of telecommunications skills and platform knowledge, including the award winning Velocity Rapid Silicon Prototyping (*1), that has catapulted us into the position of being one of the leading players in the telecommunication IC market," said Thierry Laurent, Managing Director for Philips Semiconductors' Telecom Terminals business unit. "The Telecom Platform's discipline of managing complexity will enable us to leverage this and deliver innovative solutions to our partner customers to precisely match the requirements of their product roadmaps, which are one of the most aggressive and demanding in the whole semiconductor industry. We are already in detailed discussions with our customers to fine tune the specifics of our Telecom Platform so that we can start delivering products designed under it early next year."

The first announcement about Philips Semiconductors' Silicon System Platform methodology was made at IFA in Berlin, Germany at the end of August 1999 along with details of its first implementation in the form of the Nexperia™ Digital Video Platform (see  www.semiconductors.philips.com/cms/nexperia/). This was followed by the Car Infotainment Platform announcement at the IAA global automotive trade show in Frankfurt, Germany on the 16th of September 1999.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier based on Dataquest's 1998 report (*2). Headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, the company's innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position it as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Its recent acquisition of VLSI Technology (San Jose, California, USA) further enhances Philips Semiconductors' position as one of the world's leading suppliers of handset solutions for digital cellular and cordless telephone systems including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, ISM, GPRS and Bluetooth. In addition to these digital system solutions, Philips Semiconductors also produces ICs for wired and analog cordless telephony and paging. The company's activities are supported by sales offices in all major markets around the world, and by systems labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at  www.semiconductors.philips.com

Additional backgrounder: BG9909 - Technical information on Philips Semiconductors' Telecoms Platform

*1: Velocity was the winner of EDN's Innovation of the Year award 1998.

*2: Based on Vendor Revenue from Shipments of Total Semiconductors Worldwide according to Dataquest's 1998 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share report published in May, 1999.