Freescale and ROHM Will Collaborate to Deliver Innovative Automotive Solutions for Japanese and Global Markets

The collaboration brings together two of the most prominent names in automotive silicon. Freescale has a decades-long track record of delivering innovative semiconductor solutions to many of the world’s top automotive OEMs and tier one suppliers, while ROHM is a leading provider of high-quality peripherals, including discrete components and ASSPs supporting microcontrollers for automotive markets in Japan and worldwide. Freescale and ROHM plan to collaborate in market segments and technologies where the companies’ products do not compete.

"We are pleased to announce one of the first collaborations between Freescale and a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer, established for the benefit of the top automakers and tier one OEMs around the world," said David M. Uze, vice president of Freescale Semiconductor Inc., president and representative director of Freescale Semiconductor Korea, Inc., and president of Freescale Semiconductor Japan Ltd. "Bringing together two of the strongest silicon providers in the industry is great news for the Japanese and larger global automotive markets. We look forward to growing our relationship and developing more technology solutions that underscore the individual strengths of these two great companies."

The collaboration is expected to include cross-promotional activities, as well as the joint creation of a range of solutions engineered to speed and simplify the development of innovative, high-quality, cost-effective automotive systems. Examples of this collaboration will include:

An evaluation board based on Freescale’s S12 MagniV automotive microcontrollers and leveraging discrete products from ROHM. Freescale’s S12 MagniV is a mixed-signal microcontroller built on proven S12 technology, non-volatile memory and high-voltage analog circuits.

A comprehensive CPU card reference design that integrates ROHM’s ASSP and discrete products onto Freescale’s Smart Application Blueprint for Rapid Engineering (SABRE) for Automotive Infotainment. The solution leverages the performance of Freescale’s i.MX 6 series applications processor technology, together with ROHM's discrete technologies. The result is a compelling automotive infotainment reference design that enables optimal thermal design flexibility by keeping component sizes and part counts to a minimum. The CPU card reference design is expected to be available by November 2013 from ROHM.

“For years, ROHM has considered the automotive market to be its primary focus, and has driven to meet on-time delivery and high quality,” said Toshiki Takano, director for ROHM. “We are pleased to collaborate with Freescale to enhance efforts to optimize its high-performance microcontrollers with our high-quality peripherals. Our solutions will dramatically reduce customers’ time-to-market.”

ROHM will participate in Freescale's largest event in Japan, the Freescale Experience, Sept. 20-22, 2013, at the Fuji International Speedway. ROHM will exhibit the CPU card reference design built on SABRE for Automotive Infotainment, as well as lead technical sessions on automotive-related topics. In addition, ROHM and Freescale’s joint automotive solutions will be exhibited at the ROHM booth at CEATEC JAPAN, Oct. 1-5 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture.