Motorola Showcases Programmable and Cost Effective Alternative for Wireless Infrastructure Signal Processing

Wireless infrastructure systems developers face seemingly contradictory requirements as they prepare to deploy new technologies in an ever-changing business climate. On one hand, extreme competitive pressure exists to use highly integrated components in order to reduce overall system cost. On the other hand, the continuing evolution of standards and market uncertainty demand flexibility, field-upgradability, and scalability. Until now, this challenge has been addressed through the use of ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) and FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) for MIPS (millions of instructions per second) intensive signal processing tasks -- a choice that may undermine system cost, flexibility, time-to-market, and OEMs' (original equipment manufacturer) cost per channel objectives.

RCF devices offer the benefits of a programmable DSP (digital signal processor) solution for baseband processing, while approaching the cost, power consumption, and processing capability of a traditional ASIC-based approach.

"This marks the first time a major DSP supplier has moved into the area of reconfigurable signal processing," commented Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts. "The time is right. This technology will bring us a step closer to true software-defined radio."

Along with MSC810x StarCore(R) technology-based DSPs, RCF devices deliver an innovative system solution for 2.5G and 3G baseband processing. The highly flexible RCF devices are based on an array of optimized processing elements, and present an efficient solution for computationally intensive tasks. Motorola RCF and DSP product strategy encompasses aggressive cost per channel targets with flexibility, device integration, and support for advanced system-level features that address the immediate and longer-term market evolution toward lower cost base stations and increased functionality.

"With an advanced architecture and an array of tools and software libraries, Motorola's RCF solution combines the cost-effectiveness of an ASIC with the flexibility of a DSP in a manner that satisfies the complex requirements of wireless systems," says Lynelle McKay, vice president and general manager of Motorola's RF and DSP Infrastructure Systems Division. "With Motorola, customers can choose from a breadth of flexible and programmable offerings -- including PowerPC(R) host processors, DSPs, and now RCF, while meeting system cost targets."

"Our analysis shows that a combination of DSP and RCF offers an advantageous solution for all elements of 2.5G and 3G baseband processing including equalization, chip rate, symbol rate, and advanced 3G functions like smart antenna and multi user detection," said Roman Robles, manager, Digital Technologies Operation, RF and DSP Infrastructure Systems Division. "Other potential applications for RCF are echo cancellation and video processing, in particular MPEG-4 encode/decode."

Unlike FPGAs and ASICs, RCF does not require Hardware Description Language (HDL) coding and is fully programmable in C and assembly languages. As a part of Motorola's commitment to provide comprehensive state-of-the-art solutions, Metrowerks expects to offer its highly integrated CodeWarrior(R) development environment for RCF -- the same award-winning environment used for DSP and host processor software development. Motorola also expects to offer an extensive library of integrated and verified communication and signal processing modules, plus a range of hardware development platforms to expedite proof-of-concept designs and deployment.

  Key Benefits of Motorola RCF Devices
  -- Programmability and flexibility to adapt to new standards and markets

  -- Fast time to market (no need for long hardware design cycles) and
     therefore increased revenues

  -- Long time in market due to ability to modify equipment in the field

  -- Optimized use of computing resources with ability to adjust resources
     based on traffic load

  -- Competitive system cost and lower overall cost of ownership

  Pricing and Availability

Specific Motorola RCF products and solutions are expected to be announced at Motorola's Smart Networks Developer Forum Europe in June. To learn more about RCF, contact your local Motorola or Metrowerks sales office or visit http://www.motorola.com/smartnetworks.

About Metrowerks

Metrowerks creates CodeWarrior software and hardware products and services for developers, with a particular focus on the following industries: consumer electronics; transportation; wireless; and networking and communications. The CodeWarrior product line includes hardware and software development tools and middleware that enable customers to accelerate their time to market. In addition, Metrowerks is a recognized leader in the consumer electronics market, serving customers that include Sharp, Sony Ericsson, Nintendo, Motorola PCS and more. The company also offers services, including training and custom software development. Founded in 1985, Metrowerks is today an independent operating subsidiary of Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT). Metrowerks corporate headquarters are in Austin, Texas; Metrowerks Europe is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland; and Metrowerks Japan is headquartered in Tokyo. For more information, please visit http://www.metrowerks.com/ .

About Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector

As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector creates DigitalDNA(TM) system-on-chip solutions for a connected world. Our strong focus on wireless communications and networking enables customers to develop smarter, simpler, safer and synchronized products for the person, work team, home and automobile. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $4.8 billion (USD) in 2002. For more information please visit http://www.motorola.com/semiconductors.

About Motorola, Inc.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2002 were $26.7 billion. Motorola is a global corporate citizen dedicated to ethical business practices and pioneering important technologies that make things smarter and life better for people, honored traditions that began when the company was founded 75 years ago this year. For more information, please visit: www.motorola.com

The Motorola PowerQUICC family contains PowerPC processor cores.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. The "PowerPC" name is the trademark of IBM Corp. and used under license from IBM Corp.

CONTACT: Nelda Currah of Motorola, +1-512-996-5118 - Office,
+1-512-289-4746 - Mobile, nelda.currah@motorola.com; or Kathy Truesdell,
Representing Motorola, +1-512-301-0615 - Office, +1-512-633-8620 - Mobile,
truesdel@onr.com; or Sarah Strunk of PetersGroup Public Relations,
+1-512-794-8600, for Metrowerks

Web site: http://www.motorola.com/
http://www.metrowerks.com/