The license agreement enables Winbond to design and manufacture complete Bluetooth solutions together with a proprietary baseband. Winbond can tailor Ericsson's solutions for all of the major Bluetooth applications such as human interface devices, headsets and mobile phones.

"This deal is important to us because Winbond is a leading company within Asian semiconductor design and manufacturing," says Maria Khorsand, President of Ericsson Technology Licensing. "We strongly believe that Winbond, due to its leading position, will penetrate the Taiwanese market with Bluetooth solutions. In addition, thanks to Winbond's strong global presence, Winbond will become a key player in the Bluetooth adoption rate worldwide."

"In a rapidly changing and highly competitive semiconductor industry, it is important to choose the right partner," says Chun-Ming Chang, Assistant Vice President Network Access Product Center at Winbond Electronics. "We chose Ericsson because of their leading role in Bluetooth and the outstanding performance of their Bluetooth Core Radios. Ericsson could offer us products that would not only meet the present demands but also those of the future due to their wide expertise in areas such as Bluetooth Radio, Baseband, Software, Qualification, and Interoperability testing."

The Ericsson Core Bluetooth Radio K-E1 is designed in TSMC's 0.18um RF-CMOS process and offers a low requirement on external components and the smallest die size available on the market. The Ericsson Core Bluetooth Radio K-D1 license package will allow Winbond to differentiate products that specifically target the Bluetooth market segments Winbond is pursuing.

Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press