Marvell Expands Wireless Portfolio to Include Location-Based Technologies

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL), an industry leader in storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions, and Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB), a leading innovator of advanced positioning technology, today announced that they have entered into a Global Positioning System (GPS) software technology licensing agreement. With this agreement, Marvell gains direct access to Trimble's full GPS Digital Signal Processor (DSP) software as well as tools for development support and testing, all of which are backed by Trimble's historical leadership and its strong GPS intellectual property portfolio.

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Access to Trimble's market leading GPS technology complements Marvell's wireless and application processor initiatives for WiFi, Bluetooth, FM, multi-function radio, application processors and cellular processor devices. With this relationship, Marvell strengthens its portfolio to further increase its silicon content in a number of growing markets, including personal navigation devices (PNDs), mobile phones, portable media devices and digital still cameras. The licensing agreement will enable Marvell to provide customers with comprehensive GPS solutions based on innovative architectures that are tailored for high performance and low overall system power consumption.

'GPS is a major driver for today's mobile consumer electronics industry, and is becoming an increasingly common demand from consumers for mobile devices which support a wide range of applications,' said Partho Mishra, Vice President of Marvell's Embedded and Emerging Business Unit, Communications and Consumer Business Group. 'Our relationship with Trimble fulfills this demand, providing us access to their leading GPS DSP software solutions that complement our rich technology portfolio.'

IDC research predicts navigation devices and systems will reach annual sales revenues of $62 billion by 2012, with PNDs capturing over 75 percent share of the consumer navigation market for the forecast period. 'This agreement will enable the combination of personal navigation devices with Marvell's innovative application processors to provide state-of-the-art location-based capabilities to consumers,' said Bill Dussell, Director of Trimble's Integrated Products, Advanced Devices Group.