FMI's engineering team is closely attuned to the needs of the U.S. market and aggressively develops creative solutions to the market's problems. A major component of Fujitsu's global development strategy, this local design capability helps FMI meet customer needs quickly. The local engineering teams facilitate joint development projects and enable customers to easily take advantage of the full scope of Fujitsu's product and service offerings.
This emphasis on design is part of FMI's overall move towards providing systems solutions to customer problems while shifting away from purely component sales. More and more, FMI is helping its customers achieve higher levels of integration so that they can get products to market faster. In this new emphasis on integrated solutions, FMI is focusing on -- and leveraging -- its core competencies in areas such as mixed-signal technology, digital signal processing and high-speed memory interfaces.
Development Services
In another example, FMI worked with Intel and Microsoft to develop a single-chip, plug and play controller that provides comprehensive autoconfiguration capabilities for PC ISA add-in cards. The product, which will allow customers to be Windows 95 compliant quickly and easily, simplifies PC upgrades and reduces costs.
FMI is currently working with Synopsys, Inc., using their Structured ASIC Methodology to develop highly complex ASICs for advanced applications such as multimedia, graphics and telecommunications.
Technical Assistance
Additionally, as part of its program to optimize service and development support, FMI provides sophisticated consulting and technical assistance to help customers develop ASICs, interconnect technology and other hybrid products. FMI offers a complete set of development tools ranging from evaluation boards to design kits and software drivers. Through alliances with leading design-tool vendors such as Microtec Research, Green Hills Software, Inc. and Cygnus Support, FMI facilitates access to the latest software compilers, assemblers and debuggers. In addition, the company establishes cooperative ventures with a broad range of key hardware and software companies in order to develop and extend successful technologies and bring products to market more quickly.
Future Plans
In the future, FMI will continue to emphasize PC applications, including graphics, plug-and-play interfaces and wireless products. FMI's goal is to blend the best of Fujitsu's worldwide technology with its innovative U.S. semiconductor designs to make FMI an international center for VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) systems development.