Motorola’s Dragon I/68349 Microprocessor Supports Magic Cap and Telescript
AUSTIN, Texas — January 6, 1994 — Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) High Performance Microprocessor Division today announced that its highly integrated Dragon I(TM)/68349 microprocessor supports General Magic, Inc.'s Magic Cap(TM) platform and Telescript(TM) technology unveiled today at MacWorld. The Magic Cap platform runs on Dragon I/68349 and its companion chip, Astro. The Dragon I/68349 and Astro processors will power the forthcoming personal communicators from Motorola's Paging and Wireless Data Group(PWDG) and wireless communicators from other alliance members which will run the Magic Cap software.
Developed in conjunction with General Magic and Motorola's PWDG, both the Dragon I and Astro were designed to specifically handle the requirements of Magic Cap and Telescript's sophisticated messaging system. Dragon I and Astro deliver a balance of performance, power consumption and system cost unmatched by existing solutions. Manufactured and sold by Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector, Dragon I is generally available and Astro is available to all Magic Cap licensees.
Dragon I/68349 and Astro — Integrated Performance
The Dragon I/68349 microprocessor combines high integration, low-power and price/performance to meet the needs of the personal communicator marketplace. The Dragon I is equipped with a 32-bit CPU030 core microprocessor and on-board system peripherals, including DMA, serial communications and memory interface support. The CPU030 processor core provides between 26-33 MIPS-per-watt performance at 16 MHz.
The Astro companion chip provides system interface functions, including infra-red, audio, LCD and touch-screen interfaces, multiple PCMCIA slots and communications interfaces. Together, the Dragon I/68349 and Astro provide a complete processing and control solution for robust personal communicators.
Power Management
Dragon I/68349 was designed to consume very little power to enable long battery life. Its fully static design, 3.3-volt operation and on-chip resources maximize system performance while reducing power consumption. Dragon I, for example, provides Magic Cap with explicit control over peripherals and their processor clock, allowing the platform to finely tune the processor's performance for each task. During typical operation at 16 MHz, Dragon I consumes a mere 300 milliwatts of power. When the system is idle, even for the microseconds between pen strokes, a special LPSTOP instruction places the processor in a "power-down" mode reducing power consumption to less than one milliwatt and dramatically reducing power drain.
"One of the keys to having a great product is how well the software is integrated with the hardware," said Ken Edwards, manager, PDA market development for Motorola's High Performance Microprocessor Division. "We are pleased that the tight integration of the Dragon I microprocessor and Magic Cap software will deliver an exciting platform. With the support of major operating systems and our long-standing expertise in high integration and low-cost manufacturing, Motorola is ensured a strong position in the growing portable communications market."
Having 1992 worldwide sales of $4.5 billion, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector is the largest U.S.-based broad line supplier of semiconductors, with a balanced portfolio of more than 50,000 devices. Motorola is one of the world's leading providers of electronic equipment, systems, components and services for global markets. Products include two-way radios, pagers and telepoint systems, cellular telephone systems, semiconductors, defense and aerospace electronics, automotive and industrial electronic equipment, computers, data communications and information processing and handling equipment.
Motorola was a winner of the first Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1988, in recognition of its superior company-wide quality management process.
NOTE: Dragon I is a trademark of Motorola, Inc. Magic Cap and Telescript are both trademarks of General Magic, Inc.
CONTACT:
Ken Edwards of Motorola, 512-891-2142 (reader),
or
Heather Premru of Cunningham Communication, 617-494-8202 (editorial), for Motorola