ST, TI back joint iA, wireless multimedia standard

By Peter Clarke, SBN
iApplianceWeb
(01/09/03, 08:59:31 PM EDT)

GENEVA Switzerland -- STMicroelectronics has added its digital multimedia expertise with Texas Instruments DSP-for-cellphone experience to agree a series of application processor interfaces related to Texas Instruments' OMAP architecture for wireless handsets.

If the move is supported by operating system companies, writers of applications and peripheral chip manufacturers it could see the OMAP platform and OMAPI architecture gaining momentum in the 2.5G and 3G wireless market.

The two companies said today (December 12 2002) that they expect the forthcoming OMAPI standard would promote faster and broader deployment of multimedia-enhanced mobile devices and applications. OMAPI stands for Open Mobile Application Processor Interfaces.

ST and TI also said they intend to invite companies such as operating system vendors, middleware vendors, software application developers, hardware peripheral manufacturers and other industry players to embrace the new standard.The OMAPI Standard is aimed at defining a set of hardware and software interfaces for 2.5G and 3G mobile phones, PDAs and other portable and multimedia products. The companies said OMAPI would build on the success of TI's OMAP(TM) platform and ST's position as a supplier of digital multimedia chips and its expertise in low-power System-on-Chip (SoC) design.

The OMAPI Standard would comprise of a set of software interfaces to the operating system and a set of hardware interfaces defining common application peripherals. Details of the new standard are expected to be made public in the first quarter of 2003.

“The OMAPI Standard is important to the wireless industry because it will expand the proliferation of application software and drive the growth of the emerging market for mobile multimedia services," said Gilles Delfassy, general manager of TI's wireless business unit in a statement. ST and TI have already developed common software and hardware interfaces to maximize application software re-use and accelerate the design cycle, the companies said. Both companies have plans for their own application processors in compliance with the new standard to be available in 2003. ST will soon launch its family of multimedia application processors complying with the OMAPI Standard. TI will support a range of OMAPI Standard compliant products, building on the current available OMAP processors.

For more information on this story, go to www.ti.com or www.stm.com.

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