Texas Instruments will use PVR SGX in OMAP3

[Farid]

http://www.imgtec.com/News/Release/index.asp?ID=644

Imagination Technologies and Texas Instruments Extend Cooperation in Graphics


2 October 2006

Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE:IMG; "Imagination") – a leader in System-on-Chip Intellectual Property ("SoC IP") – reports that Texas Instruments Incorporated (“TIâ€), a world-leading semiconductor company, has licensed one of Imagination’s PowerVR® graphics core family members under a multiple-use license arrangement.

TI will use this technology from Imagination in its next generation application processor family, OMAPâ„¢ 3 architecture.

Under the terms of its licensing arrangements Imagination receives license fees and royalty revenues on SoCs incorporating Imagination’s IP shipped by partners.

About Imagination Technologies
Imagination Technologies Group plc – a leader in SoC IP – develops, licenses and supplies market-leading graphics, video and display cores, real-time multi-threaded DSP/RISC processors and communication and broadcast technologies for the mobile, consumer, automotive and PC markets. It supplies licensable IP (Intellectual Property) supported by advanced development tools to leading semiconductor and consumer electronics companies worldwide. Imagination Technologies Group plc has its corporate headquarters in the United Kingdom and is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE:IMG). See: www.imgtec.com

 

[Rolf N]

You sure this is really SGX?
"one of Imagination’s PowerVR® graphics core family members"

 

[Ailuros]

You sure this is really SGX?
"one of Imagination’s PowerVR® graphics core family members"

They've already licensed both MBX Lite and MBX (both + VGP). Common sense would dictate that you don't need a repeat license for those IP cores.

 

[roninja]

quite a busy day for IMG TI news on one side and Intel on the other - you'd be hard pressed to know which one is more important.....

 

[Lazy8s]

Each deal alligns Imgtec with the leading supplier of graphics chips for their respective half of the market to potentially cover the whole thing from top to bottom, so they're equally important.

 

[Patric]

They've already licensed both MBX Lite and MBX (both + VGP). Common sense would dictate that you don't need a repeat license for those IP cores.

... and you think license policies follow common sense? Sometime read a complete M$ license agreement for example, is it = common sense?

 

[Ailuros]

... and you think license policies follow common sense? Sometime read a complete M$ license agreement for example, is it = common sense?

No they truly don't; but I don't see much reason for TI to re-use a whatever-variation of MBX in OMAP3 either, since both OMAP2420 and 2430 seem (at least to me) to cover all so far needs. If that would be a higher clocked MBX f.e. do you really need to announce it or even further imply a repeat license?

 

[amk]

I wonder why this press release doesn't give the name of the core being licenced. Perhaps it's an unannounced core? Also, why is the UK based IMG using the American spelling of "licence"?

No they truly don't; but I don't see much reason for TI to re-use a whatever-variation of MBX in OMAP3 either, since both OMAP2420 and 2430 seem (at least to me) to cover all so far needs. If that would be a higher clocked MBX f.e. do you really need to announce it or even further imply a repeat license?

IIRC OMAP3430 has already been announced as using MBX alongside ARM Cortex.

 

[Ailuros]

Do you have a link to the said announcement, because I obviously missed it?

 

[amk]

Sorry Ailuros, it seems my memory failed me. I was recalling the Virtio Virtual Platform, which used to specify MBX for the 2D/3D accelerator. It doesn't now.

The OMAP3430 product page doesn't name the graphics core, but does claim to be "Software-compatible with OMAPâ„¢ 2 processors" .

 

[Ailuros]

Sorry Ailuros, it seems my memory failed me. I was recalling the Virtio Virtual Platform, which used to specify MBX for the 2D/3D accelerator. It doesn't now.

The OMAP3430 product page doesn't name the graphics core, but does claim to be "Software-compatible with OMAP™ 2 processors" .

That last one isn't telling me much either:

http://www.imgtec.com/powervr/products/Graphics/SGX/index.asp?Page=4

I'm not insisting on anything, it just makes the announcement completely senseless to me if OMAP3 truly contains MBX after all.

http://www.imgtec.com/PowerVR/insider/Partners/hardware/index.asp?page=texasinstrumentsOMAP22V30
http://www.imgtec.com/PowerVR/insider/Partners/hardware/index.asp?page=texasinstrumentsOMAP2430
http://www.imgtec.com/PowerVR/insider/Partners/hardware/index.asp?page=texasinstrumentsOMAP2420

I'm wondering what they exactly have licensed this time; a MBX Ultra with cheese?

 

[roninja]

Guesswork here but an ARM presentation in May that proved the even TI weren't sure what the OMAP 3430 would have inside. On one slide it showed the MBX Lite inside just like the OMAP 2430, and yet on another it was the MBX as per the OMAP 2420.

Could be that IMG have licenced SGX for OMAP 3 cores beyond the 3430 as we know from the initially announced there will be a family of OMAP 3 chips.