Intel boost mobile Atom drive with Freescale team

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Intel boost mobile Atom drive with Freescale team

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 12 October, 2009

READ MORE: France | Freescale | Intel | Semiconductor

Intel is hoping that it will be third time lucky for its attempts to stake a major position in the mobile device chip market, and is bolstering its Atom-based strategy by taking over a 3G team from Freescale.

The US giant has confirmed that it will hire a 53-strong group of 3G systems integration engineers, together with a base in Toulouse, France, from the former Motorola unit, which has been downscaling its cellphone activities over the past year. The team, part of Freescale's Cellular Products Group, will bring strong skills and experience in 3G phones and mobile internet devices, markets where Intel knows it has to gain a significant share for Atom, if its device chip business, and its x86 processor architecture, are to continue to grow in future as mobile gadgets overtake PCs.

Intel has been chasing ARM-based designs down into the low power platforms required for phones and embedded wireless devices. Now the Freescale outfit will help by bringing to Atom its important expertise, in building wireless system solutions based on platform elements such as modems, connectivity and application processors. "The engineers will contribute to the development of Atom-based platforms that enable the delivery of internet computing in your pocket with a choice of high bandwidth mobile broadband communications," Intel said in a statement.

The engineers will remain in Toulouse but will work with Intel teams worldwide. This is the latest in a series of moves to boost the mobile Atom drive, the most important being the acquisition of 3G intellectual property from Nokia and the joint hardware/software alliance with the handset leader. Intel may also look to expand the Toulouse facility with new hires - many wireless silicon firms are based on the city, and Texas Instruments, for one, has been recently laying off workers as it cuts back on its cellphone baseband business. "RF design talent is rare, so Intel's moves are smart," analyst Will Strauss of Forward Concepts told EETimes.

Strauss believes Intel will make Toulouse the focus of a major wireless activity. While other former giants of cellphone silicon shift their focus elsewhere - TI to analog and apps processors; Freescale to automotive, base stations and smartbooks - Intel is looking to break into a sector dominated by Qualcomm. It has the sheer resources to do this, but in the past has fallen down on its inexperience in wireless partnerships, channels and surrounding systems. Strauss added: "Only Intel has the financial muscle to enter the cellular chip market", but also needs a wide range of new skills, hence the Toulouse efforts.