It's a bit of a mystery . . . but Metaflow, a subsidiary of STMicroelectronics, may be developing the industry's most complete single-chip Internet Appliance. Although system-on-chip (SOC) devices are already offered by rivals NEC, IBM, Intel, Motorola, NETsilicion, Aplio, ATMEL, Axis Communications, and National, Metaflow's new design is rumored to be the first to integrate the “killer combo” of dual… Fast-Ethernet, USB, and display controller — all on a single die. Like most SOCs, the Metaflow device is expected to implement a “post-PC” architecture, based on either an ARM or MIPS CPU core.

Metaflow is posturing its new system-on-chip device, set to sample in Q4 2000, as a “Linux-based single-chip Internet Appliance enabler.” The device will be sold to OEMs developing a broad range of networked appliances and communication applications. Typical products that could benefit from a Linux-powered SOC with built-in dual-Ethernet, display controller, and USB might be set-top boxes, home management systems, firewall appliances, communications hubs, thin servers, and a variety of embedded data acquisition and control systems.

A market with vast potential

Industry analyst International Data Corporation (IDC) projects that the worldwide market for Internet appliances will exceed 89 million units, or $17.8 billion, in 2004, up from a market of 11 million units and $2.4 billion in 1999. US unit shipments of consumer Internet appliances will outnumber those of consumer PCs by the end of 2002.

Seeking development partners

There's one thing Metaflow is making no secret about: the company wants to find some partners to help develop the required suite of embedded Linux software and tools for their new system-on-chip product — as evidenced by a recent posting at LinuxDevices.com.

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This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.