Home - Yahoo! - Help

[ Business | US Market | By Industry | IPO | AP | S&P | International | PRNews | BizWire | CCN ]

Related Quotes MOT 163 15/16 +5 delayed 20 mins - disclaimer

Company Press Release

Motorola Extends DigitalDNA(TM) Technology to Benefit 64 Universities

Grant valued at US $20 million allows ISTEC members to leverage Motorola's Digital Signal Processor Core Technology

CANCUN, Mexico, March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Motorola (NYSE: MOT - news) extended its strategic partnership with the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium (ISTEC) today by announcing an academic license valued at US $20 million. The license grants 64 Latin American, U.S. and European universities access to Motorola's family of core-based digital signal processor (DSP) technology, and expands the company's advanced DigitalDNA(TM) technologies across Latin America.

The agreement, signed today at IEEE's International Caracas Conference on Devices, Circuits and Systems in Cancun, Mexico, gives educators and students at member universities access to this leading technology, upon which students can develop total systems on chips. It also compliments Motorola's legacy in Latin America as equal to education.

Motorola's DSP568xx core is known in the industry because it is designed for both DSP and microcontroller operations, making it an ideal mass-market solution set for low-power, general purpose applications that can be applied to the digital wireless messaging, end point telephony, industrial control and digital imaging markets.

``A broad knowledge base of state-of-the-art design practices is essential to the explosive growth in Latin America,'' said Gustavo Arenas, corporate vice president for Motorola, Inc. and general manager of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector operations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. ``ISTEC is a powerful partner for us. Together, we are enabling the use of smart technology at some of the world's most prestigious engineering and technical universities. This agreement also underlines our commitment to advancing technology education in countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru.''

Motorola is providing the necessary elements for students to take a design from concept to an integrated system-on-chip. ISTEC member universities will receive:

• The DSP568xx core design
• Bus standard specifications and peripheral IP bus bridge
• A library of peripheral modules
• Memory controller and interface modules

In addition, Synopsys, a leader in complex integrated circuit (IC) design, announced a license of their Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software to the universities that obtain access to Motorola's DSP technology. These two agreements will give ISTEC members the ability to create courses that leverage Motorola's technology and Synopsys' tools in 18 different countries.

``We exist to provide cutting-edge technology curriculum in the region,'' stated Dr. Ramiro Jordan, executive director of ISTEC. ``Motorola and Synopsys are excellent partners. Having access to the DSP568xx core technology and related tools will enable students and researchers to participate in the rapid growth we are experiencing in Latin America.''

``For Motorola, this licensing represents a major step forward in enrolling Latin America in the global society of knowledge,'' said Omar Villarreal, vice president of Motorola and president of Motorola in Mexico. ``The DSP technology combined with Motorola's regional initiative of excellence in education will enable university students in Latin America to make valuable contributions to the scientific and technological developments of their respective countries.''

Last year, Motorola's M-CORE(TM) Technology Center granted ISTEC and its member universities a royalty-free license and the right to disseminate the M-CORE M210 microprocessor architecture for educational purposes.

About ISTEC

ISTEC is a non-profit organization comprised of educational, research, and industrial institutions throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. The consortium has been established to foster scientific, engineering and technology education, joint international research and development efforts among its members, and to provide a cost-effective vehicle for the application and transfer of technology. Currently, ISTEC has more than 75 members from academia and industry. Institutional members include the United Nations, Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank. See http://www.istec.org/ for more information.

About DSP568xx

The DSP568xx core is a low-cost, low-power DSP solution designed for telecommunications, two-way messaging, industrial and motor control, automotive and the general-purpose DSP markets. It contains a programmable 16-bit complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) digital signal processor that consists of a 16-bit data arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a 16-bit address generation unit (AGU), a program decoder, On-Chip Emulation (OnCE), associated buses and an instruction set.

About Motorola

Motorola's microprocessor architectures have been the foundation of engineering and technical courses for two decades. As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector offers multiple DigitalDNA(TM) technologies which enable its customers to create ``smart'' products and new business opportunities in the networking and computing, wireless communications, transportation and imaging and entertainment markets. Motorola's semiconductor worldwide sales were US $7.4 billion in 1999. See http://www.motorola.com/semiconductors/ for more information.

Motorola, Inc. is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions, employing approximately 129,000 people worldwide. Sales in 1999 were US $30.9 billion. See http://www.motorola.com for more information. In Mexico, Motorola markets semiconductors, two-way radios and networking, internet and multimedia equipment for the corporate and personal communications markets through its nearly 2,000 associates in Mexico City, Chihuahua and Guadalajara.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. is a leading supplier of electronic design automation solutions to the global electronics market. The company provides comprehensive design technologies to creators of advanced integrated circuits electronic systems and systems-on-a-chip. Synopsys also provides consulting services and support to its customers to streamline the overall design process and accelerate time to market.

DigitalDNA(TM) and M-CORE(TM) are trademarks of Motorola, Inc.

SOURCE: Motorola, Inc.