(PRWEB) June 23, 2000
Frankfurt, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark – June 15 2000 – Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME), a leading supplier of ASICs and ICs for the global communications marketplace and Exbit Technology, a fabless semiconductor start-up with a leading position in 10 Gigabit Ethernet, today jointly announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership agreement under which the companies will co-operate in the development, manufacturing and world-wide sales and marketing of next generation switching chipsets for Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
Under the agreement Fujitsu and Exbit Technology will provide systems solutions to enable Internet Service Providers and Medium Size Enterprises to achieve much greater bandwidth for Voice and Data Communications.
With this agreement, Exbit leverages its expertise and Intellectual Property strength in switching chipset for Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The first available chip, HeathrowTM, a 16-port Gigabit Ethernet switch-on-chip, will use Fujitsus advanced 0.18 micron technology. Exbit will launch its ChicagoTM chipset, featuring high levels of switching performance for 10 Gigabit Ethernet in 2001. Fujitsu brings to the partnership a complete manufacturing solution and market leading expertise in ASICs, as well as a strong world-wide sales and marketing organisation.
Geoff Peppiette, FMEs Vice President Marketing & Technology commented, We see our partnership with Exbit as part of the global trend towards ASSP type ASICs and feel that Exbits deep knowledge of the Networking Market perfectly complements Fujitsus manufacturing strength.”
We are extremely pleased to have concluded this agreement. We believe, that Fujitsu, with its leading position in chip technology and truly global presence will be an excellent partner for Exbit, comments Ole Christian Andersen, CEO of Exbit Technology. The partnership with Fujitsu not only provides us with world-class manufacturing facilities, but also gives us a very strong sales and marketing partner.
The partnership is effective immediately and is expected to result in the first chipset samples late in the fourth quarter 2000.
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe is a major supplier of semiconductor products to the European and global market. The company’s main business focus is on providing systems solutions to the networking/telecommunications, mobile communications, automotive and multimedia markets. This integrated solutions approach is supported by a broad range of semiconductor devices, including ATM telecommunications ICs, RF devices, PLLs and SAW filters, microcontrollers and microprocessors, FCRAMs and Flash memory. The company is also a leader in colour plasma display panels. For more information visit Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe’s website at
http//:http://www.fujitsu-fme.com.
About Exbit Technology
Exbit Technology is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Current products include Intellectual Property Cores for System-on-Chip design. The company recently announced its future product roadmap of switching chip-sets for Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Exbit Technology currently has 30 employees. More information is available on the web at http://www.exbit.com
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