Company Press Release

Texas Instruments Announces $25 Million University Research Fund Focused on Digital Signal Processing Research

The creation of this DSP University Research Fund is the latest in a series of actions to widen the company's lead in digital signal processing solutions. It complements TI's establishment of a $100 million venture capital fund and the opening of a major new research facility, both supporting future DSP applications development.

The key technology behind the digitization of electronic end-equipment, DSPs are pervasive in cellular phones, modems, hard drives and other electronic equipment. While most consumers do not realize it, DSPs are the engines making these digital products work faster and better. New uses for DSPs, such as digital TV, are being developed at a rapid pace by electronics designers in industry and in university research labs around the world.

``DSPs represent the single most exciting frontier for researchers in industry and academia today,'' said John Scarisbrick, senior vice president of TI's Semiconductor Group and manager of worldwide applications-specific products, who made the announcement at a media briefing hosted by the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) in New York City today. The briefing centered on the importance of signal processing in shaping technology for the next century.

``This collaboration will involve hundreds of researchers in top universities worldwide who are conducting research for high performance DSPs. It will accelerate the development of DSP technologies and create the next wave of DSP-based applications,'' Scarisbrick said.

The new investment in DSP research represents a significant 'next step' in TI's overall focus on DSPs. With this fund, TI has invested more than $50 million dollars over the past 15 years in DSP university education and research, partnering with universities and research centers around the world and focusing on areas such as wireless communications, high-speed networks and smart motor control. More than 900 universities worldwide are training the next generation of electronic designers on TI DSPs.

TI has a number of additional investments underway to accelerate its development of new technologies and applications requiring DSPs. TI recently announced the establishment of a $100 million venture fund, the largest ever directed at the rapidly growing DSP market. TI will target investments in companies developing new DSP applications and markets, particularly start-up companies seeking initial funding.

Also, TI recently opened the first phase of its new research and development complex in Dallas, Texas - the $150 million Kilby Center -- that will serve as the technology base for TI's leading-edge technology.

According to market research firm Forward Concepts, TI is the leader in the DSP market with about a 45 percent market share. TI pioneered with its first single-chip, programmable DSP in 1982, and in just 12 years (in 1994) the market reached $1 billion. The DSP market passed the $2 billion milestone in 1996, and the $3 billion milestone in 1997.

Over the last several years the market for DSPs has grown at more than 40 percent per year, significantly outpacing the growth of the overall semiconductor industry. The worldwide market for digital signal processors and related mixed-signal/analog chips is projected to grow more than 10 times to about $50 billion over the next ten years.

The fast growing markets for DSPs include all digital cellular phones, all high speed modems for Internet access, PC and dedicated video-conferencing equipment and high performance mass storage disk drives for personal computers and workstations.

Future applications will likely include portable video-phones, network processing, devices for natural language speech control of personal computers, ultra-high speed modems for Internet access (ADSL) 100 times faster than today's modems, image processing for personal digital cameras and video rate processing for digital video via the Internet, satellite and cable. These applications demonstrate an unbounded appetite for programmable DSP performance that TI is well positioned to serve.

SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated