ASPEC Licenses Its Open Design Implementation Technology to Yamaha; Yamaha will expand its music & multimedia ASSP products by adding ASIC capability.SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 1996--ASPEC Technology, Inc. today announced that they have signed a licensing agreement with the semiconductor division of Yamaha Corporation “Yamaha” redirects here. For other uses, see Yamaha (disambiguation). The Yamaha Corporation (ヤマハ株式会社 , a leading supplier of music and multimedia ASSP (Application Specific Standard Part) An ASIC chip that is designed as a generic device for a particular market. Whereas an ASIC is typically used only by its creator, ASSPs are used by many different companies in the design of their products. See ASIC. products. This move is key for Yamaha as it provides them access to specialized segments within the ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) Pronounced "a-sick." A chip that is custom designed for a specific application rather than a general-purpose chip such as a microprocessor. market. Yamaha has considerable expertise in Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs) for their world famous music and multimedia products. By licensing ASPEC's Open Design Implementation Technology (DIT), now Yamaha gains a proven technology and complete infrastructure allowing them to be the leader in these segments of the ASIC market. The worldwide license will cover Yamaha's 0.6u as well as 0.5u technology. "ASPEC ASPEC Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College ASPEC Advanced Spectre Entropy Coding (MPEG) ASPEC Adaptive Spectral Entropy Coding Technology's Open DIT provides Yamaha with the densest ASIC architectures available, proven cell libraries, and tools that interface to virtually any EDA (1) (Electronic Design Automation) Using the computer to design, lay out, verify and simulate the performance of electronic circuits on a chip or printed circuit board. tool," said Conrad Dell'Oca, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "More importantly, Open DIT gives their engineers total design flow control all the way through manufacturing." The ASIC business is crucial to Yamaha for two reasons. First, Yamaha's customers are often the leading edge pioneers in the emerging application of music and multimedia. The ASIC approach will enable the customers to embed special logic, extending Yamaha's ASSP with powerful new capabilities. Therefore, to maintain a leadership position in these segments, Yamaha must offer ASIC solutions to customers. Second, as 0.5u technology is capable of delivering more than 3 million raw gates on a single silicon, Yamaha must offer ASIC solutions for its customers to integrate ASSP and peripheral logic in consumer applications where price competition is fierce. ASPEC Leads the Way When considering moving into this ASIC opportunity, Yamaha determined that the best path for their customers was to license the technology that proved leading edge performance. "ASPEC was an easy choice for us because of their open design environment that supports all EDA software, coupled with superior benchmark performance clearly indicating their leadership in this technology," said Jose Villafuerte, ASIC Product Marketing Manager at Yamaha. "Their technology was more competitive than that of other solutions contemplated." About Open Design Implementation Technology (DIT) DIT is the technology that links EDA software/hardware and silicon manufacturing processes. In the past, DIT has been developed as a proprietary technology by each Integrated Circuit integrated circuit (IC), electronic circuit built on a semiconductor substrate, usually one of single-crystal silicon. The circuit, often called a chip, is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or a nonhermetic plastic capsule, with leads extending from it for (IC) manufacturer. Open DIT is a commercially available system that can be used by ASIC vendors, IC/ASSP manufacturers, and system houses to target diverse silicon process technologies using any EDA methodology. The competitive climate of the semiconductor business of the '90s has propelled the need for Open DIT. These competitive drivers for Open DIT are: the cost of developing and maintaining proprietary DITs, new IC/ASSP companies needing external DIT expertise, the designer's need to own the DIT in order to meet the challenges associated with deep sub-micron designs. ASPEC's Open DIT contains dense, high-performance, and low-power gate array, embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. array and standard cell product architectures; cell libraries and design kits for popular EDA software; quick and optimized access to any silicon process; and all in an integrated, proven methodology. About ASPEC Technology ASPEC Technology, Inc. is a pioneer and leader in providing Open Design Implementation Technology to ASIC vendors, IC companies and systems houses designing ASICs. Open Design Implementation provides a standard, open link between design automation and silicon manufacturing. Although most ASIC houses have proprietary DIT, ASPEC promotes and leads the category for open DIT tools. ASPEC's Open DIT is based upon its patented High Density Architecture (HDA (Head Disk Assembly) The mechanical components of a disk drive (minus the electronics), which include the actuators, access arms, read/write heads and platters. HDA - Head Disk Assembly ) and has been adopted by 10 major semiconductor companies, including industry leaders such as Hyundai, National Semiconductor, Samsung, Sanyo and now Yamaha. ASPEC is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. located at 830 E. Arques Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086. About Yamaha Systems Technology, Inc. Yamaha Systems Technology, Inc. was founded to manufacture and market integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. , board level products and complete systems to OEMs and Distributors. The division's product line includes custom and semicustom ASICs, standard circuits for graphics, communications and audio applications, and CD Recorder See CD-R. products. CONTACT: ASPEC Technology, Inc. Charlie Cheng, 408/774-2199 or Yamaha Systems Technology, Inc. Jose Villafuerte, 408/467-2370 ystasic@yamaha.com or Cain Communications Susan Cain, 408/291-2580 |
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