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UMC
to Target SOC Designers' Requirements with New 1T-SRAM Memory Strategy
Foundry
licenses MoSys' 1T-SRAM technology for four process generations
SUNNYVALE,
California, and HSINCHU, Taiwan-November 18, 2002-UMC (NYSE: UMC),
a world leading semiconductor foundry and MoSys, Inc (NASDAQ: MOSY)
the industry's leading provider of high density SoC embedded memory
solutions, today announced that UMC has licensed MoSys' 1T-SRAM®
technology as part of the foundry's enhanced IP strategy to offer
SoC designers memories that are more tightly aligned with its processes.
Through this licensing agreement, UMC can now provide customers
with direct access to one of the most popular forms of memory, 1T-SRAM,
in its 0.18, 0.15 and 0.13 micron, and 90 nanometer standard logic
processes. UMC's access to this technology allows the foundry to
provide its own customized versions of derivative, ultra-high density,
1T-SRAM memories.
Dr.
C. T. Lee, vice president of corporate marketing at UMC said, "Memory
is vital to the success of all designs, and it is becoming increasingly
more important as it is dominating more than 50 percent of the die
area in many upcoming SoCs. As such, we want to provide memory macros
that are linked as tightly as possible to our process technologies,
and those we can customize. Besides 6T (six transistor) and trench
memories, we chose 1T-SRAM memories as alternative memories because
they fit into certain application areas. And, we decided to align
with MoSys as it is one of the leading vendors of 1T-SRAM technology."
"As UMC is one of the world's leading foundries, we are very
enthusiastic that it is adopting our technology for generating memories
for its customers," commented Mark-Eric Jones, vice president
and general manager of intellectual property at MoSys. "The
agreement allows UMC to provide design services and support to its
customers directly, while preserving continuity and stability of
business arrangements between MoSys and its licensees. In addition,
it furthers the proliferation of MoSys' 1T-SRAM embedded memory
technology, including our low standby power 1T-SRAM-M technology
and our new 1T-SRAM-R offering that incorporates Transparent
Error Correction (TEC) to eliminate the need for redundancy
and laser repair while improving yield, reliability and soft error
rates. Our macros will be more adoptable by a broader audience of
UMC customers as the foundry will help accelerate availability on
its specific process technologies."
Lee continued, "Many of our customers have stated that they
would like UMC to offer its own family of embedded memory cores,
as memory is becoming so important for future SoC designs. Through
this new agreement we will provide customers the option of accessing
process-aligned MoSys 1T-SRAM technology directly through UMC."
Prior to this agreement, MoSys was already working with UMC by offering
a range of Standard 1T-SRAM memory macros that had been verified
on UMC's 0.18 micron and 0.15 micron standard logic processes. These
cores, available through MoSys, were promoted to customers through
UMC's Gold IP program.
Availability
The new customized 1T-SRAM cores under this
agreement will be sold and marketed by UMC. UMC's roadmap is to
offer process-proven 0.18 micron and 0.15 micron 1T-SRAM cores to
customers in Q1 2003, 0.13 micron cores in Q2 2003; and 90 nanometer
cores in the second half of 2003. Pricing is available upon request.
About
1T-SRAM Technology
Since MoSys
first made its 1T-SRAM memory technology available for license,
MoSys' licensees have now shipped a total of more than 45 million
chips incorporating 1T-SRAM embedded memory technology, demonstrating
the excellent manufacturability of the technology in a wide range
of silicon processes and applications.
About
MoSys
Founded in
1991, MoSys (NASDAQ: MOSY), develops, licenses and markets innovative
memory technologies for semiconductors. MoSys' patented 1T-SRAM
technologies offer a combination of high density, low power consumption,
high speed and low cost unmatched by other available memory technologies.
The single transistor bit cell used in 1T-SRAM technology results
in the technology achieving much higher density than traditional
four or six transistor SRAMs while using the same standard logic
manufacturing processes. 1T-SRAM technologies also offer the familiar,
refresh-free interface and high performance for random address access
cycles associated with traditional SRAMs. In addition, this technology
can reduce operating power consumption by a factor of four compared
with traditional SRAM technology, contributing to making it an ideal
technology for embedding large memories in System on Chip (SoC)
designs. 1T-SRAM technologies are in volume production both in SoC
products at MoSys' licensees as well as in MoSys' standalone memories.
MoSys is headquartered at 1020 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, California
94085. More information is available on MoSys' website at http://www.mosys.com.
Note
From UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements
in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning
of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about
future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships
and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events
and results could differ materially from these statements as a result
of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor
market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC;
and technological and development risks.
1T-SRAM® is a MoSys trademark
registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other trade,
product, or service names referenced in this release may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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Contacts:
UMC
KJ Communications
Eileen Elam
(650) 917-1488
eileen@kjcompr.com
In Taiwan:
Alex Hinnawi
(886) -2-2700-6999 ext. 6958
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MoSys
K.T. Boyle
Corporate Communications
Sunnyvale, CA
+1 (408) 731-1830
kboyle@mosys.com
Katie Olivier
Shelton PR, Dallas, TX
+1 (972) 239-5119 x142
kolivier@sheltongroup.com
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