San Jose, California–UMC, a leading semiconductor foundry, and Parthus Technologies PLC, a Dublin, Ireland-based developer of semiconductor intellectual property for the mobile Internet market, have announced an agreement that enables Parthus’ customers to license its Bluetooth radio on UMC’s CMOS process to power next-generation mobile Internet devices.

Parthus has developed its Bluetooth radio transceiver on UMC’s 0.18-micron CMOS process, which the companies claim provides their customers with easier access to the tools required for the development of mobile Internet chips. Combined with Parthus’ baseband intellectual property integrated on a system chip, this development will also enable the industry’s first range of second-generation single chip Bluetooth solutions.

The agreement allows for a wide range of customers, including IC companies and OEM manufacturers, to license Bluetooth technology “off-the-shelf” from Parthus–reducing both cost and time-to-market cycles.

“The essence of Bluetooth is wireless connectivity across a range of electronic devices in a low-cost, high-performance package,” says Kevin Fielding, chief operating officer of Parthus. “By making our technology available on UMC’s 0.18 CMOS process, we can accelerate the timetable for the mass deployment of Bluetooth technology. CMOS is the workhorse of the microprocessor industry because it delivers a low-power, low-cost solution. Furthermore, as a UMC ASICplus member, customers can leverage the benefits of the program with this latest offering to develop a total Bluetooth solution.”