Sonics Teams With Chinese Systems Innovator to Deliver High-Performance, Low Power Laptop, Tablet SoCs

Oct 11, 2010 19:00 ET

Beijing Nufront Taps Sonics' Award-Winning On-Chip Connectivity Solutions for New Line of Next-Generation Mobile Computing Products

BEIJING and MILPITAS, CA--October 11, 2010- Sonics, Inc.®, the world's leading supplier of on-chip communications IP, today announced that Beijing Nufront, one of China's fastest growing and innovative systems and silicon providers, has selected Sonics' on-chip network IP solutions and performance analysis tools for its new line of advanced laptop and tablet computers. Nufront's line of highly integrated, low power SoC solutions for mobile computers are among the industry's most performance-aggressive and price-competitive offerings on the market today. Nufront licensed Sonics' popular SonicsMX low-power, on-chip network together with the high-efficiency MemMax memory scheduler.

As one of China's newest SoC innovators, Nufront is targeting ultra-thin laptop, 'all-in-one' desktop computers, as well as next-generation netbook and tablet computers. As a thriving systems provider, Nufront understands the significance and unique market opportunity of investing in SoC and system design for the high-volume mobile market. As computer designers like Nufront race to become early contenders in this hotly contested market, they need innovative, proven silicon and highly integrated SoC platforms that can accommodate intricate form factor requirements and deliver the highest performance, power-aware technologies available to stay competitive.

"Nufront is driving mobile technology to new levels of performance, integration and power and wants to stay ahead of that ever-changing curve," said Vince Zhou, general manager, Nufront System Chip Division. "The mobile computing market is fast-moving and unforgiving, so precise design innovation is key to our development methodologies. As a leader in SoC design and an innovative IP provider, Sonics helps us achieve our critical performance and power objectives that define our presence as a leader in mobile computing and is an integral partner for us throughout the design process."

Sonics offers the broadest portfolio of on-chip networks, memory subsystems and tools for advanced SoC design. Nufront licensed the low-power SonicsMX on-chip network which manages multiple traffic threads and high data throughput on-chip, maintaining optimal performance and superior power efficiencies throughout the SoC. Today, SonicsMX is designed into and shipping in a broad array of mobile, wireless, consumer, office automation and automotive applications, and is the most widely used commercially available on-chip network for high-end, performance-driven SoCs. Additionally, Nufront licensed Sonics' high-efficiency MemMax memory scheduler, which boosts DRAM bandwidth efficiency up to 85 percent.

"Nufront has made impressive inroads in the mobile computing market over the last couple of years and we're excited to be part of its rapid growth," said James Mac Hale, vice president of Asia Operations at Sonics. "The mobile computing space is one of the fastest growing sectors in technology today, and Nufront is well positioned as one of the market's aggressive innovators. Its keen focus on technology leadership and power efficiency ensures a strong alliance between our companies, and we look forward to working with Nufront as they re-shape mobile computing today and beyond."

About Nufront

Nufront was founded in 2004 by several Chinese overseas returnees from Silicon Valley, including Chief Technical Leader Professor Bao. Nufront is a highly innovative startup which designs a broad range of technologies, including wireless communications systems, video search systems and digital image processing systems. Nufront has extensive partnerships in China with industry-leading companies, first-class Chinese universities and academic institutes. For more information, visit: www.nufront.com.

About Sonics

 Sonics, Inc. is a pioneer of network-on-chip (NoC) technology and today offers SoC designers the largest portfolio of intelligent, on-chip communications solutions for home entertainment, wireless, networking and mobile devices. With a broad array of silicon-proven IP, Sonics helps designers eliminate memory bottlenecks associated with complex, high-speed SoC design, streamline and unify data flows and solve persistent network challenges in embedded systems with multiple cores. As the leading supplier of on-chip communications networks for the embedded market, Sonics has enabled its customers to ship more than 750 million units worldwide. Founded in 1996, Sonics is headquartered in Milpitas, Calif. with offices worldwide. For more information, please visit www.sonicsinc.com and www.sonicsinc.com/blog.