Freescale, ST deepen Power pact for automotive apps

February 7, 2006 – Underscoring its commitment to seeking high-growth consumer segments outside the PC world, Freescale Semiconductor is teaming up with longtime Crolles2 partner STMicroelectronics to drive IBM’s PowerPC architecture further into applications in the automotive market.

Joint work at facilities in Munich will bring together more than 100 designers to define and design products complementing each company’s independent roadmap using aligned process technologies starting at 90nm, including 32-bit PowerPC cores, 90nm embedded flash, and high-voltage Power MOSFET and IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor). Each company will independently market the microcontrollers to ensure wider supply availability.

Resulting microcontrollers will be used in control-intensive automotive electronic systems, including engine and transmission control, multiprocessing capabilities for fault-tolerant systems such as drive- and brake-by-wire, advanced vehicle control, and driver information systems.

“Electronics has clearly become a major differentiator in the automotive market,” and the PowerPC architecture is poised to be a driver of that differentiation, stated Paul Grimme, senior VP and GM for Freescale’s transportation and standard products group. “The combined design and manufacturing resources of ST and Freescale will give automakers a broader portfolio of world-class, 32-bit products for increasingly complex control functions within the car.”

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