Alcatel MAC Technology to be Used in Nova Semiconductors' Video/Audio Chips; Ethernet MAC Core Leader Chosen for Chips That Enable Development of High-Volume Consumer Products.Business Editors & High-Tech Writers CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2001 Alcatel (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : ALA) and Nova Semiconductors today announced that Nova Semiconductors has licensed Alcatel Media Access Control (MAC) soft core technology for its programmable, multimedia single-chip networked video/audio 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. (ICs). Nova Semiconductors' highly programmable, multimedia and networked video/audio ICs enable quick hardware and software development of products in high-volume consumer markets. In licensing Alcatel's technology, Nova Semiconductors will offer the most widely-licensed MAC core technology in the industry so system designers can meet time-to-market demands, lower ownership risks, and ensure product interoperability. "Nova Semiconductors has licensed Alcatel's proven MAC technology to ensure product interoperability for the integrated circuits we offer to system designers," said Fuad Abu Nofal, 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. of Nova Semiconductors. "These ICs enable both images and sound to be transferred over a network connection or a phone line and enable low-cost, high-performance video conferencing See videoconferencing. (communications) video conferencing - A discussion between two or more groups of people who are in different places but can see and hear each other using electronic communications. , Internet radio, video security and IP phone products." "Alcatel's 10/100 Ethernet MAC technology is ideal for the development of Nova ICs," said Alan Amrod, Alcatel vice president of enterprise marketing. "As the market leader in this space, our powerful MAC cores bring Nova closer to its goal of providing the industry's best ICs that drive next generation networked media systems technology. Alcatel technology also brings systems designers an increased level of confidence of interoperability because our MAC cores are so widely licensed." The NOVA-1X26 family of ICs contains the Alcatel 10/100 Mbps Ethernet MAC, a TriMedia(TM) VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) A CPU architecture that reads a group of instructions and executes them at the same time. For example, the group (word) might contain four instructions, and the compiler ensures that those four instructions are not dependent on each CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. , video and audio I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output , modem and expansion (PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). , 68K, IDE) bus. Alcatel is the market leader in 10/100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet media access controller technology and a Principal Member of the 10-Gigabit Ethernet Alliance. The Alcatel Technology Licensing Group's silicon-proven products are currently used in approximately 80 percent of the 10/100 Mbps ports and more than 50 percent of the Gigabit Ethernet ports shipping worldwide. Alcatel's Technology Licensing Group provides 10/100 Mbps, Gigabit, triple speed 10/100/1000 Mbps, and 10-Gigabit Ethernet MAC building blocks in the form of Verilog HDL (Hardware Description Language) A language used to describe the functions of an electronic circuit for documentation, simulation or logic synthesis (or all three). Although many proprietary HDLs have been developed, Verilog and VHDL are the major standards. code for designers of networking ICs and system devices. Alcatel MAC cores have been licensed to dozens of companies worldwide including Philips Semiconductor, Mitel Corporation, Nortel, NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. Electronics, Broadcom, and Lucent. For additional information about Alcatel Technology Licensing Group products and services, visit http://www2.ind.alcatel.com/prod_sol/internetworking/emac/index.cfm About Alcatel Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 130,000 employees and sales of EURO 31 billion in 2000, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. About Nova Semiconductors Nova Semiconductors is a fab-less semiconductor company specializing in System on Chip ICs capable of network communications, video and audio processing for commercial and home-networked products. It markets standard products to large volume OEMs. Nova Semiconductors is a privately held firm founded in 1998 and based in San Jose, Calif. Information is available on the Internet at http://www.novasemi.com. |
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