Freescale accelerates multicore 45-nm products

BANGALORE, INDIA: Freescale Semiconductor is accelerating availability of key communications products based on 45-nm process technology in response to strong demand from wireless infrastructure equipment manufacturers targeting advanced 3G and 4G systems.

Freescale is now sampling the PowerQUICC MPC8569E processor, the dual-core QorIQ™ P2020 device and the six-core MSC8156 StarCore® digital signal processor (DSP). The devices are sampling to more than a dozen OEM customers and are actively being used in the development of next-generation infrastructure solutions. Customer validation/bring-up activities have continued on or ahead of schedule and volume production is expected to begin in 45-nm at the end of 2009.

“In the current economic environment, it is encouraging to see tremendous worldwide demand for enabling technology that facilitates deployment of broadband infrastructure equipment for advanced 3G and 4G networks,” said Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Networking and Multimedia Group. “By accelerating delivery of our high-performance 45-nm products to customers, Freescale is playing a key role in delivering the performance and cost reductions required to bring next-generation networks to life.”

Offering industry-leading levels of integration, performance and energy efficiency, the trio of 45-nm devices delivers a comprehensive solution for 3G/4G infrastructure equipment. The products’ highly integrated designs and low-power operation capabilities facilitate reduction of both base station equipment costs and service provider operating expenditures.

For example, these devices can help reduce bill-of-material costs for processor and DSP content in a typical 3-sector, 10MHz LTE base station by up to 60 percent, while simultaneously reducing the corresponding power consumption by more than 50 percent compared to the previous generation. The 45-nm parts deliver enough performance to support double the number of users over the previous generation.

"This strong product execution bodes well for Freescale at 45-nm geometries, where the company is one or two process generations ahead of competing products,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst with The Linley Group. “These accomplishments demonstrate early momentum for Freescale’s QorIQ product line while providing customers with advanced processor technology for next-generation wireless infrastructure equipment."