AMD licenses ST shader technology

STMicroelectronics has announced a strategic license agreement with AMD to deliver next-generation graphics technology for mobile multimedia devices. The licensing agreement will combine ST’s award-winning Nomadik platform with the 3D graphics core technology from AMD’s Handheld Division, formerly part of ATI Technologies. The resulting platform will deliver best-in-class solutions for mobile gaming and user interface applications from two of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers.

Mobile phones are advancing in functionality at a rate three times that of PCs, and future high-end phones will incorporate high-quality 2D graphics and visually rich 3D applications such as gaming. Technology advancements in reducing power consumption while delivering stunning performance levels means that the quality of mobile graphics experiences are no longer limited by the processing capacity of the device platform.This not only helps manufacturers to deliver mobile devices with graphics that are on par with PCs and gaming consoles, but also empowers content developers to more quickly adapt applications to the mobile platform, thereby realizing their innovative visions in the world of mobile applications.

ST has licensed AMD’s OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant 3D and OpenVG 1.0 vector graphics core engine and related software. R&D teams from AMD and ST will work closely together to integrate AMD’s unified shader-based technology into Nomadik devices for the next generation of high-end feature phones, smartphones and other portable multimedia devices. The combination of Nomadik and AMD graphic technology is expected to considerably improve image quality while delivering industry-leading battery life.

The addition of this AMD hardware-acceleration technology to Nomadik platforms will allow 2D and 3D applications the ability to offer consumers a rich visual component that is a better and more intuitive experience. Thanks to its distributed architecture and complementary multimedia accelerators, Nomadik will be able to devote more of its computing power to processing game program logic and delivering best-in-class video and rich audio content,. This will allow developers and applications providers to implement more complex game play, similar to features found on high-end PCs and game consoles; and improve artificial intelligence.

“In addition to bringing more visually rich video game console-quality graphics to the mobile arena with the lower power required for handheld devices, this strategic relationship around Nomadik is also intended to deliver additional features and functionality for next-generation operating systems for handheld devices,” said Paul Dal Santo, vice president and general manager of AMD’s Handheld Division. “We are pleased that ST has chosen AMD graphics technology to enhance their Nomadik platform and we look forward to working closely with ST to deliver greater usability to developers and value-added 3D and vector graphics to their customers.”

ST’s Nomadik mobile multimedia processors harness a multi-core distributed architecture, to deliver superior video, audio and graphics, reduced power consumption and simplified software development for products such as smartphones, multimedia feature phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), Internet appliances and car entertainment systems.