San Diego, CA — (press release excerpt) — Silicon Wave Inc. and Cirrus Logic Inc. today announced a licensing agreement that adds wireless connectivity to Cirrus Logic's Maverick microprocessors for Internet electronics. As a licensee of Silicon Wave, Cirrus Logic plans to combine its industry-leading audio capability with Silicon Wave's baseband IP that incorporates Bluetooth wireless technology enabling native Bluetooth wireless technology support on Cirrus's Maverick chips. The new wireless capability would untether Maverick processor-based electronics such as Internet audio players, PDAs, and eBooks, eliminating cables and adding such features as wireless headphones or wireless Internet access.

Through Silicon Wave's IP licensing agreement, Cirrus Logic will be developing future Maverick processors with an integrated Bluetooth baseband and radio interface that will provide an all-in-one processing solution for both the portable device and the Bluetooth protocol software. Manufacturers will then only need an external single-chip radio modem from Silicon Wave to enable Bluetooth wireless connectivity. Silicon Wave's high performance SiW1502 radio modem provides low power, long range, and interference rejection technologies which further compliment Cirrus Logic's Maverick processor, the leading processor choice for many smart handhelds including portable digital audio players.

Maverick technology continues to strengthen its market position as favorite chip of designers of second and third-generation portable consumer Internet products. Maverick engineers increasingly choose to leverage key Maverick processor features in Internet appliances and Internet audio players, including a choice of:

• Operating systems including: Embedded Linux, WinCE, eCOS, EPOC, Palm OS and VxWorks
  
• Alternative data storage methods including FLASH, hard drives, CD-ROMs, CD R/W or iOmega's PocketZip(TM) magnetic media.
  
• MP3, WMA and AAC compression/decompression standards
  
• Multiple levels of security including MavrickLock and MaverickKey security technologies

Maverick chips are designed into a variety of Internet entertainment devices including Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Internet TVs, Internet TV set-top boxes, eBooks, Web-based entertainment, network-based home audio players, digital car audio players and 70 percent of the portable Internet audio players sold worldwide last year. After only six months of production, Cirrus Logic shipped its millionth Maverick processor in August 2000.

 
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.