Cypress Joins Mobile Industry Processor Interface Alliance
Membership Demonstrates Commitment to Handset Platform Solutions Including West Bridge(TM) Peripheral Controllers, CapSense(TM) Interfaces, and Dual-Processor Interconnects
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 4, 2007 - Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY) today announced that it has joined the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance, the industry initiative established to define and promote open standards for interfaces to mobile application processors. Cypress is addressing rapidly evolving interface standards with its West Bridge(TM) architecture for dedicated peripheral controllers that serve as functional bridges and provide high-performance, optimized data paths for embedded applications. In addition, Cypress's broad portfolio of handset solutions includes its PSoC® CapSense(TM) capacitive sensing interface, dual-processor interconnects, high-speed USB controllers and more.
"As a member of the MIPI Alliance, Cypress will be able to closely track the definition of next-generation specifications and interfaces for handsets," said Alakesh Chetia, managing director of the West Bridge Business Unit at Cypress. "Handset designers are actively seeking efficient, flexible solutions which enable use of MIPI standards in their systems, and we are committed to quickly addressing these emerging interfaces with our West Bridge family of peripheral controllers."
Devices in the West Bridge family function as a companion chip to an embedded central processing unit (CPU) to free it from data-intensive operations. In the same way the North Bridge and South Bridge were introduced in the PC architecture to enable the main CPU to evolve independently from quickly changing memory and peripheral interfaces, embedded systems are evolving towards a similar architecture, where a West Bridge device manages the interfaces and offloads from the main CPU specific peripheral-to-peripheral traffic.
About the West Bridge Family
The West Bridge family is based on Cypress's Simultaneous Link to Independent Multimedia(TM) (SLIM(TM)) architecture, which manages multiple, dedicated paths between peripherals, memory and the processor to allow maximum data throughput. In addition to providing a path to interfaces not supported by the main processor, the SLIM architecture allow direct and independent data transfer from one interface to another, offloading the main CPU, and freeing up its resources for higher system performance.
The first member of the family, the West Bridge Antioch(TM) controller, uses the SLIM architecture to provide a direct path in mobile handsets from High-Speed USB 2.0 to Mass Storage (NAND, SD, MMC, HDD) for rapid transfers of music files, photos and videos.
About The MIPI Alliance
The Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance is a collaboration of mobile industry leaders with the objective to define and promote open standards for interfaces to mobile application processors. Through these open standards, the MIPI Alliance intends to speed deployment of new services to mobile users by establishing specifications for standard hardware and software interfaces to mobile application processors and encouraging the adoption of those standards throughout the industry value chain. The MIPI Alliance is intended to complement existing standards bodies with a focus on microprocessors, peripherals and software interfaces.
About Cypress
Cypress delivers high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable solutions that provide customers with rapid time-to-market and exceptional system value. Cypress offerings include the PSoC® Programmable System-on-Chip(TM), USB controllers, general-purpose programmable clocks and memories. Cypress also offers wired and wireless connectivity solutions ranging from its WirelessUSB(TM) radio system-on-chip, to West Bridge(TM) and EZ-USB® FX2LP controllers that enhance connectivity and performance in multimedia handsets. Cypress serves numerous markets including consumer, computation, data communications, automotive, industrial, and solar power. Cypress trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol CY. Visit Cypress online at www.cypress.com.
