Ericsson and Texas Instruments to Co-develop Innovative 3G Solutions for Handset Manufacturers

DALLAS, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ericsson , the world's leading telecom supplier, and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) , the global leader in silicon solutions for wireless communications, today announced that the companies will form a strategic technology engagement to develop custom solutions for new Open OS enabled 3G devices.

Solutions from the technology created by the two companies will combine small and power efficient 3G modems from Ericsson Mobile Platforms with high-performance OMAP(TM) applications processors from TI. Solutions from the joint engagement will include OMAP, custom basebands and connectivity technologies and will be capable of supporting the major Open OS, which offer easy access to a rich array of applications and services. The result of this joint effort will enable all device manufacturers to offer advanced Open OS handsets for both the high-end and the rapidly growing mid-range market.

The collaboration between Ericsson and TI will enable handset manufacturers to deliver the exciting mobile entertainment and multimedia experiences that consumers around the world are increasingly demanding. Ericsson's access technology leadership, current HSPA-enabled platforms, and future HSPA evolution and LTE technologies, combined with the cutting-edge multimedia performance enabled by TI's OMAP 2, OMAP 3 and future generations of OMAP processors, will continue to push the performance boundaries of mobile devices and mobile entertainment features.

By leveraging TI's OMAP platform with Open OS support for Windows(R) Mobile, Symbian S60, Symbian UIQ and Linux(R), these solutions will provide OEMs and operators with a robust and flexible architecture for applications and services deployment, enabling easier delivery and management of services and content. This enables handset manufacturers and mobile operators to differentiate their products through rich, easy-to-use and customizable user interfaces, and through a robust and flexible application architecture.

The result of the joint effort will bring to market an evolving portfolio of wireless technology platforms with Open OS support to reduce complexity, investment and time-to-market for device manufacturers. The solutions, which seamlessly integrate the modem and applications processor, will be presented in one pre-verified and tested platform reference design. This approach will drastically reduce development and verification efforts previously undertaken by device manufacturers, enabling customers to rapidly bring highly advanced yet competitively priced products to market.

The joint solutions will also benefit from the Ericsson Mobile Platforms IOT program, one of the industry's most extensive interoperability testing processes, guaranteeing full compliance with operator requirements, speeding up time to market and securing an easy roll-out of products.

Greg Delagi, senior vice president of TI's Wireless Terminals Business Unit, says: "It's a tribute to the long-standing collaborative relationship between EMP and TI that we can tap into and combine each company's unique wireless expertise in order to deliver the most timely, targeted solutions to the market. TI's broad, proven product portfolio and advanced manufacturing capabilities have continued to adjust to the demanding requirements of EMP's customer base. We believe that today's announcement will build on what TI can bring to EMP and what both companies together can bring to this vital, dynamic industry."

Robert Puskaric, head of Ericsson's mobile platforms' unit, says: "Ericsson is clear in its commitment to design and offer a portfolio of flexible, innovative mobile platforms that address the requirements of the rapidly evolving mobile device market. We are pleased to work closely with TI to combine the finest of each company's core wireless know-how -- EMP's access technology and platform size leadership with TI's innovative OMAP application processors in order to provide the most capable Open OS platforms on the market today."

Handsets based on these solutions are expected to be available on the market in the second half of 2008.

Texas Instruments -- Making Wireless

TI is the leading manufacturer of wireless semiconductors, delivering the heart of today's wireless technology and building solutions for tomorrow. TI provides a breadth of silicon and software and over 15 years of wireless systems expertise that spans handsets and base stations for all communications standards, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, A-GPS, mobile TV and Ultra Wideband. TI offers custom to turn-key solutions, including complete chipsets and reference designs, OMAP(TM) application processors, as well as core digital signal processor and analog technologies built on advanced semiconductor processes. Please visit http://www.ti.com/wirelesspressroom for additional information.

About Texas Instruments:

Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company includes the Education Technology business. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.

Trademarks

OMAP is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments. All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective owners