Transmeta TM8000 to support LPC Flash

Transmeta's long-awaited TM8000 processor will support Low Pin Count (LPC) Flash from Sharp and STMicro, the company said today.

Essentially, the TM8000 will be able to control and access LPC Flash chips without the need for ancillary chips. That, Transmeta says, will lead to improved energy efficiency in TM8000-based systems. It also leads to superior security, the chip maker claimed, since the Flash memory will be connected directly to the CPU.

LPC Flash is typically used to store system BIOS settings.

The LPC format is itself designed to reduce system complexity (and thus cost) and power consumption. Operating across a parallel bus, it's also faster than current serial Flash interfaces.

LPC isn't new - 8Mb devices have been available on the market for some time now - but both STMicro and Sharp used the Transmeta announcement to tout their new 16Mb parts - the M50LPW116 and LHF00L01, respectively - which they claim are the first chips of that density to come to market.

The TM8000 is on track to go into production this quarter, Transmeta said. ®