Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC) and IBM announced today that AMCC is acquiring intellectual property and other assets associated with IBM's 400 series of embedded PowerPC standard processors, along with a license to IBM's “Power Architecture.” The agreement will transfer the PowerPC 403, 405, and 440 processors to AMCC, sources say.

IBM, currently an AMCC supplier, will continue to manufacture the PowerPC products for AMCC. The agreement also gives AMCC access to IBM's advanced CMOS process and system-on-chip (SoC) design methodology. Additionally, IBM will continue to develop and use PowerPC 400 series embedded processor cores as building blocks for application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), SoCs, and other highly customized logic chips.

Under the terms of the agreement, AMCC will license intellectual property and acquire the assets for approximately $227 million in cash.

“This transaction advances IBM's semiconductor strategy and strengthens our Power Everywhere initiative,” commented Dr. John E. Kelly, III, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Systems & Technology Group. “AMCC will focus on expanding the presence of Power Architecture technology in the embedded space while IBM intensifies its leadership in customized semiconductor products and services.”

 
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