press release

 

PortalPlayer, Inc. selects GDA Technologies to accelerate development of silicon for digital media infrastructure solution

 

San Jose, Calif., March 6, 2000 -- GDA Technologies, Inc., a fast-growing supplier of value-added electronic design services, including intellectual property (IP) development and integration, today announced that it has been selected by PortalPlayer, Inc. as a partner in the development of a complex system-on-a-chip (SOC). The SOC is one element of PortalPlayer's complete end-to-end solution for downloading and streaming digital media content. GDA will provide design and verification support for several blocks of the PortalPlayer IC.

PortalPlayer's SOC includes what the company calls SuperIntegration™, which targets optimal processing power with the appropriate multimedia and memory interfaces for a specific application. GDA will design and integrate IP blocks for the front end of the chip, and will set up a complete verification environment, including hardware and software co-verification, block and full-chip verification.

Time to market is extremely critical for PortalPlayer's solution, and we believe that GDA's multimedia design expertise, combined with its SOC implementation experience, will help us accelerate our silicon development schedule, said Dr. Venkat Rayapati, Vice President of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer at PortalPlayer.The growing demands of the Internet and e-commerce are driving the need for highly integrated SOC solutions. Because of this, there is a dramatic shortage of talented developers for design implementation and verification efforts. Utilizing additional external resources from GDA has enabled us to produce, on schedule, what is arguably one of the most highly optimized devices for next-generation media player/recorders.

GDA has been offering SOC design services since early 1999, and has successfully implemented multiple programs, said A.G. Karunakaran, President of GDA Technologies, Inc. This program with PortalPlayer is yet another recognition of GDA's SOC capabilities.

About GDA Technologies

GDA Technologies, Inc. is a design services vendor specializing in Embedded, Networking and Consumer electronics designs. GDA focuses on designing Systems, Boards, SOCs, ASICs, FPGAs and IP from concept to product. They have developed significant expertise in Compact PCI, Digital Video and Internet appliance product development for their customers. GDA is located in San Jose, Calif., and has a satellite design center in Chennai, India. The GDA web site is www.gdatech.com.

About PortalPlayer

PortalPlayer, Inc. develops and supplies complete end-to-end media infrastructure solutions for delivering Internet-based digital audio to consumers. The solutions include applications that directly connect to the leading music and content Web sites, media management software, firmware, and semiconductors. Target systems are player/recorder devices, such as portable players, home entertainment systems, and cellular phones. Founded in June 1999 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, PortalPlayer, Inc., also has operations in Seattle, Washington, and Hyderabad, India. The company received its first round of funding from Chase Capital, Techfund, and FlatIron Partners. More information on PortalPlayer, Inc., and its products is available on the company's Web site, www.portalplayer.com.

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SuperIntegration is a trademark of PortalPlayer, Inc.