Mark Wells, Ronald Dicke, Dariusz Otreba, Guillaume Comeau, and Mike Majid founded Zucotto in August 1999 “to provide Java and Jini solutions, enabling companies to quickly develop products for mobile multimedia and the wireless Internet.” Zucotto has closed $6M in first- round financing from Ottawa and US V/Cs, with the lead being Alcatel Ventures.
According to Zucotto, the exploding market for wireless handheld devices has created a need for integrated Java solutions. Zucotto is developing cost-sensitive Java and Jini solutions for wireless mobile devices. Between 1999 and 2003, there will be 1.5 - 2.0 billion wireless handsets sold with more than a billion wireless handsets sold in 2003.
Zucotto’s first IC is Xpresso, an embedded KVM SOC, which accelerates wireless internet and multimedia applications based on Sun’s Java Technologies. Xpresso offers an enhanced and optimized implementation of Sun’s Java 2 MicroEdition (J2ME) KVM environment, enabling Java programmers to develop applications for low-cost Java-enabled consumer devices. Xpresso is targeted at size constrained devices like wireless Internet or multimedia cell phones and PDAs.
Xpresso features a 32-bit native execution Java processor with instructions optimized for power mgmt. According to Zucotto, the Xpresso family will deliver 20 – 40 times the performance, with less power consumption, of comparable devices running a virtual machine. Xpresso will be available this summer, with development kits available this quarter.
Zucotto’s Java “To Go!” products include embedded Java software and a full line of development tools. SLICE (Support Layer in Consumer Electronics) “To Go!”, the first of Zucotto’s “To Go!” products based on Java and Jini technologies, allows developers to accelerate their Java technology application development. The SLICE-enabled Xpresso chip optimizes Java functionality in wireless internet and multimedia applications.
SLICE is a support layer that is integrated with Sun’s KVM to maximize speed and minimize power while using only the required drivers to connect the KVM to the developer’s target processors. The Support Layer has a footprint under 25k, and remains under 70k when bolted to Sun’s KVM. SLICE provides an open API for Java developers. It eliminates the need for an RTOS and empowers developers with the small footprint of the KVM. SLICE reduces time to market by reducing the integration period. It will be available on popular microprocessor platforms, such as the Crusoe from Transmeta and Intel’s StrongARM.
Applications developed on Zucotto’s Jacknife Development Kit can immediately operate on ARM-based architectures, providing a path to high-bandwidth 3G applications using legacy 2G handset architectures. These same “write-once, run-anywhere” applications may be easily ported to other popular processor platforms, including Xpresso. Zucotto’s Jacknife Development Kit includes a Debugger, BLUEboard, and WHITEboard. BLUEboard combines Zucotto’s SLICE and KVM with Bluetooth technology. WHITEboard adds a GUI-friendly software development WIN32 platform.
By combining a family of products including embedded software and tools, Xpresso, Sun’s KVM, and SLICE, Zucotto allows developers to rapidly enable their handheld products with a Java/Jini solution. Using its technology, Zucotto envisions a new wave of pervasive Java Wireless appliances. The company is forming alliances with Bluetooth SIG members to integrate Bluetooth RF and baseband solutions into the Xpresso chipsets. Zucotto has already filed multiple patents and plans to demonstrate their technology at the CTIA show.
http://www.xpressotogo.com
Mark Wells, President and CEO (formerly GM of the TDMA Business Unit at DSP Communications, which was acquired by Intel)
Lisa McKnight, VP Product Marketing (formerly Director of Marketing at Doctor Design)
Ronald Dicke, VP Engineering (formerly ran an ASIC design contracting firm, which worked under contract for Nortel and Avici)
Dariusz Otreba, VP Technology (formerly co-founded Interfiniti, a consulting company providing Java and database solutions)
Michael Majid, Sr. Architect (formerly a telecom IC designer with Nortel)
Guillaume Comeau, Integration Architect (formerly a firmware developer with Nortel)
Canadian Headquarters:
130 Slater St., Suite 1300
Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1P 6E2
Tel: 613-789-0090, Fax: 613-789-0050
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