UMC Joins the ZSP(R) Foundry Program; Adds the ZSP400 Core to Its Libr

MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LSI Logic Corporation today announced that leading semiconductor foundry UMC (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) is now offering the ZSP400 digital signal processor (DSP) core as part of its comprehensive portfolio of intellectual property (IP). By having access to the completed physical design of the ZSP400 qualified in UMC's proven 0.18-micron manufacturing process, small-to-medium-size fabless semiconductor companies benefit from significantly reduced risk, investment and time-to-market when developing solutions for wireless, audio and voice applications. UMC and LSI Logic plan to expand the offering to include additional ZSP cores and technologies later this year.

"Demand for a proven, robust DSP solution, like the ZSP cores, continues to be driven by the rapid growth of wireless, digital multimedia, and consumer electronics applications," said Ken Liou, director of the IP Development & Design Support division at UMC. "By offering the LSI Logic ZSP400 core, we are providing our customers with cost-effective access to a leading IP solution for their applications where DSP technology is a fundamental requirement."

The deliverables for fabless companies include a layout view, a fully characterized timing view, VMC swift model and testbench, test vectors and documentation for integration into a system-on-a-chip design. The core includes a tightly coupled memory subsystem, memory controller, debug unit, JTAG and clock control unit. The ZSP400 core is currently deployed in multiple chips and shipping in volume production in devices such as wireless phones, IP phones, gateways and multi-channel voice/data gateways.

"LSI Logic's agreement with UMC in joining the ZSP Foundry Program to offer the ZSP400 core as part of its IP portfolio is proof of the growing market presence of ZSP processing solutions in the burgeoning fabless IC market," said Tuan Dao, vice president of the LSI Logic DSP Division. "UMC is a global semiconductor manufacturing leader and we are pleased to be working together to enable faster time-to-market through ease-of-access to a world-class DSP technology."

In addition to the UMC partnership, LSI Logic has signed ZSP DSP licensing agreements in Asia with Datang Microelectronics, Huawei, UTStarcom, AVID Electronics Corp., Socle and ICC. World-class companies such as Broadcom, IBM, Conexant and VIA Telecom are also licensees of the ZSP architecture.

About the LSI Logic DSP Products Division

The LSI Logic DSP Products Division is a leading licensor of Signal Processing Cores and Solutions. The ZSP Processor Architecture is gaining considerable momentum as the DSP of choice in many key vertical markets including 3G wireless handsets, multimedia and networked voice appliances. The ZSP roadmap offers a range of software compatible cores delivering performance points that meet the cost, power and efficiency constraints of today's SoC designs. A range of standard product offerings is also available for lower volume designs and prototype implementations. ZSP Solution Partners augment the technology with world-class software tools, EDA modeling support and a large portfolio of application software. For more information about the ZSP Solutions please visit http://www.zsp.com/.

About LSI Logic Corporation

LSI Logic Corporation focuses on the design and production of high-performance semiconductors for Consumer, Communications and Storage applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. LSI Logic engineers incorporate reusable, industry-standard intellectual property building blocks that serve as the heart of leading-edge systems. LSI Logic serves its global OEM, channel and distribution customers with Platform ASICs, standard-cell ASICs, standard products, host bus adapters, RAID controllers and software. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1621 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035. http://www.lsilogic.com/ .

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