Freescale, IBM team up for tech development

Bangalore, Jan 25: Freescale Semiconductor and IBM today announced that Freescale will join the IBM technology alliance for joint semiconductor research and development.

The agreement includes Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) and Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technologies as well as advanced semiconductor research and design enablement transitioning at the 45-nanometer generation. Freescale is the first technology development partner in the IBM technology alliance to participate in both low-power and high-performance technology research and development.

This agreement brings together Freescale's leadership in key embedded markets, including automotive, networking, wireless, industrial and consumer, with IBM's success in developing world-class technology and industry-leading systems expertise.

This alliance will enable Freescale to further strengthen its manufacturing strategy. In addition to leveraging owned capacity in internal fabs and its existing relationships with leading foundry manufacturers, Freescale will have access to the combined manufacturing capacity of IBM's Common Platform partners. The Common Platform provides its semiconductor fabrication partners with synchronized manufacturing processes to help ensure the maximum flexibility and lowest development investment for multi-source, high volume manufacturing.

"This partnership creates an exciting opportunity to combine the complementary strengths of Freescale and the IBM Alliance," said Sumit Sadana, senior vice president, Strategy and Business Development and acting chief technology officer, Freescale. "This industry-leading technology roadmap will enable Freescale to deliver substantial value to our customers."

"Freescale's addition to the IBM technology alliance is a significant vote of confidence for IBM's collaborative model and the work we are doing jointly with our technology partners," said Lisa Su, vice president, Semiconductor Research and Development, IBM. "Freescale will be a valuable addition to our team, with its deep expertise in semiconductor process development and fast growing embedded applications, like automotive, networking and wireless.

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