STMicroelectronics has licensed the ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and ARM's Mali-400 graphics processor for its next generation set-top-box and digital TV system-on-chip (SoC) ICs.
ST is already a significant user of ARM processor technology in its ST-40-based SoCs and Cortex-based microcontroller products.
The significance of the Cortex-A9 MPCore processor is that it can be used as a scalable high performance core which has the processing performance to support high-bandwidth broadband and broadcast content streamed into homes.
ST has now confirmed its intention to base its next-generation range of HDTV SoCs on ARM technology.
"Building our next-generation HDTV consumer devices around the high-performance ARM architecture will enable us to continue to deliver best-in-class devices for our customers, while providing a simple migration route from our existing ST-40 based chips," said Philippe Lambinet, executive v-p Home Entertainment and Display Group, STMicroelectronics.
In September, ARM announced its first hard macro version of the Cortex-A9 processor which has been sold as soft IP since 2007.
The idea being that it will give users of Cortex A9 a high performance version of the macro which can be implemented in designs relatively quickly.
See: ARM produces hard Cortex A9 for high performance
"The adoption of ARM technology by ST is a highly visible demonstration of the growing momentum behind our Cortex processors and Mali GPUs (Graphics Processor Units) in applications such as DTV and set-top boxes," said Mike Inglis, executive v-p Processor Division, ARM.
The Mali-400 GPU will support 1080p 3D user interfaces conforming to the Khronos OpenGL ES 2.0 API (Application Programming Interface).
The first ST devices for home entertainment applications integrating the Cortex-A9 MPCore and Mali-400MP will be available in mid-2010.