STMicroelectronics and Freescale joint design efforts deliver “first silicon”
Freescale Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics, semiconductor suppliers to the automotive industry, have unveiled the first four automotive Power Architecture microcontroller (MCU) products resulting from the two companies’ joint design program, initiated two years ago. The two companies have achieved first silicon from their respective wafer fabs in Austin, Texas, and Agrate Brianza (Milan), Italy, for four automotive MCUs targeting powertrain, body, instrument cluster and safety/chassis applications. Manufactured on the two companies’ aligned 90 nm embedded flash technology, the four products are the industry’s first 90 nm automotive MCUs built on the advanced microcontroller technology. Automotive customer interest is strong, and initial product samples are available to support customer demand in Asia Pacific, Europe, Japan and the United States.
“From the inception of our joint design program, ST and Freescale have stayed on track with our product development milestones, and with the release of first silicon to select customers, we’re proud to report ‘promise delivered’,” said Marco Maria Monti, vice president and general manager of ST Powertrain & Safety Division. “These four jointly designed automotive MCUs are the first in a product roadmap underway between our allied automotive design teams using the leading microcontroller technology for automotive applications.”
“Our common microcontroller architectural platform has enabled Freescale and ST to accelerate the goal of making Power Architecture technology the leading automotive microcontroller core,” said Denis Griot, chairman of Freescale EMEA and global automotive marketing. “The system on chip platform enables us to quickly develop multiple automotive products incorporating optimised peripheral sets and embedded flash memory, fine tuned for specific automotive applications. Freescale’s and ST’s joint design teams are executing flawlessly, and we expect to maintain this rapid cadence of joint product development for years to come.”
ST and Freescale are dedicated to extending the aligned product roadmap through ongoing work at joint design centres in Naples, Agrate, Sao Paulo and New Delhi’s National Capital Region. Staffed by more than 150 design engineers, these design centres are focused on developing next generation MCU products optimised for specific automotive market segments. Automotive customers will receive samples of the jointly developed MCU products throughout Q1 2008. The two companies plan to provide general automotive market product information, pricing and availability for the dual sourced products later this year.
