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Marvell Unleashes Powerful New Applications Processor for Mass-Market Digital Consumer Devices


WEBWIRE

First in a Family of Products Based on New Innovative Architecture

Las Vegas, Nevada .— Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL), an industry leader in storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions, today unveils the Marvell® PXA168, the first in a family of applications processors targeted at new mass market opportunities in computing and digital consumer devices with the potential to reach up to a billion units. The Marvell PXA168 is based on a new innovative architecture that delivers the processing capabilities of an entry-level laptop to instant-on, digital consumer devices by enabling full-featured web surfing, Internet widgets, multi-format video, Adobe Flash-based content playback, image processing, video conferencing and advanced graphical user interfaces (GUIs) – at consumer price points with ultra-low power for longer battery life.

Incorporating Marvell Sheeva™ technology, this new class of applications processor is scalable beyond 1GHz to enable converged consumer devices. Devices powered by the Marvell PXA168 can include connected digital photo frames, portable navigation devices, portable media players, automotive dashboard displays and infotainment systems, home automation, portable TVs, digital signage and other devices that utilize Internet connectivity, media processing and touch screen interfaces.

“Marvell prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation, and developing products that give consumers what they want before they even know it can exist,” said Roawen Chen, vice president and general manager, Communications and Computing Business Group at Marvell. “For the first time, consumers can utilize the processing power of Marvell’s Sheeva technology in their low-power digital devices. With the Marvell PXA168 they get gigahertz plus processor speeds, coupled with a WMMX2 SIMD co-processor, creating the opportunity for whole new markets such as low-cost mobile computing devices.”

Until now, digital consumer devices have utilized proprietary real-time operating systems with custom-crafted applications that yielded non-scalable, single-function products. This new innovative architecture enables a new suite of software and applications, such as Adobe Flash and Flash Lite player as well Internet widgets running on top of full-featured operating systems, such as open-source Linux. Now, Marvell is enabling a powerful, scalable software environment previously not available to developers for mass market digital consumer devices. This platform has the capability to create a new ecosystem and bring a new dimension of functionality to digital consumer devices, just as advanced smart phones have done to the mobile phone market.

The Marvell PXA168 supports high-definition video with hardware graphics acceleration on screens up to widescreen ultra extended graphics array resolution. The PXA168 also includes Marvell’s Qdeo™ Color Intelligent Color Remapping technology to bring vivid color to displays without hue shifts or clipping while preserving skin tones. Northbridge and southbridge interfaces are integrated for cutting-edge consumer devices, including a 5-in-1 memory card reader, multi-level cell NAND, CE-ATA, DDR2 memory, USB, PCI-e and Ethernet interfaces.

The Marvell PXA168 reference platform supports Linux and Microsoft Windows CE operating systems and a comprehensive media framework for connected consumer devices including all standard video and audio codecs, Adobe Flash and Flash Lite players, advanced GUIs and many third-party applications. Packaging options for the Marvell PXA168 include BGA and a QFP with a 1mm pad pitch to enable use of 2-layer PCBs. Marvell can provide a complete platform solution, including embedded Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and power management.

The Marvell PXA168 applications processor is sampling now, and Marvell is providing complete hardware/software reference platforms to top-tier digital consumer OEMs. Marvell is also working with third-party software and application developers to port their applications to the PXA168 platform.



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