National Semiconductor Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) and ARM Ltd. (Cambridge, UK) announced a strategic business relationship to jointly develop and market power-efficient systems that will increase the battery life of hand-held portable devices in several stages from 25 to 400 percent. The relationship is focused on developing an advanced technology that enables ARM Powered® system-on-chip devices to adjust performance and power consumption to maximize energy conservation in portable devices.
National and ARM intend to develop a holistic system-level approach that manages performance and power consumption within an embedded system. The first phase of products will increase the efficiency of the digital baseband by 25 to 75 percent. The collaboration, benefiting handset manufacturers and consumers, is the first of its kind to address system-level power management for an expanding and demanding portable market.
"Consumers are demanding better performance and longer battery life from hand-held devices," said Peter Henry, vice president for portable power products at National. "Every time you add a new capability such as multimedia systems or digital photography, it takes more power and reduces the lifetime of your battery. The only way to give consumers what they want - more features and longer battery life - is to improve the management of power consumption in portable devices. That is what National and ARM want to accomplish."
