FujiFilm Microdevices, the research and development subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Company, which makes the Mac compatible line of FinePix digital cameras, has licensed the Xtensa technology from a company called Tensilica for the development of a system-on-chip (SOC) that will be incorporated into future digital still cameras.
Look for the SOC designs to be incorporated into Fuji Photo’s next generation digital cameras. Using Tensilica’s proprietary Xtensa Processor Generator, SOC designers purportedly can develop a processor subsystem hardware design and a complete software development tool environment tailored to their specific requirements in hours.
“Low cost and power are the key concerns for today’s boom in hand-held electronic systems,” Bernie Rosenthal, Tensilica’s senior VP of marketing and business development, said in announcing the agreement. “By exploiting the configurability and extensibility of the Xtensa architecture, FujiFilm Microdevices will realize significant power savings without compromising the system’s sophistication or time-to-market considerations.”
Tensilica was founded in July 1997 to address the fast-growing market for configurable processors and software development tools for high volume, embedded systems. The agreement with FujiFilm marks Tensilica’s first publicly announced design win in the digital camera field.