AMD licences 3D graphics core to Qualcomm

A new deal will bring AMD's Unified Shader Architecture to Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem chipsets

AMD has reached an agreement to license its graphics core technology to communications firm Qualcomm.

The companies hope that the intellectual property licensing agreement will help to drive mobile gaming and multimedia content.

This deal will bring AMD's patented Unified Shader Architecture, first introduced in Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, to Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem chipsets, potentially reaching millions of mobile phone users.

Despite Qualcomm's ongoing legal woes, this agreement comes as welcome news to mobile developers keen to tap into the potential power of an AMD graphics core.

"The promise of upcoming handheld architectures supporting OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics standards is expected to bring a game-changing evolution in 3D capabilities for developers," said Alex Caccia, chief executive at mobile game developer Ideaworks3D.

The agreement follows AMD's acquisition of graphics chip developers ATI late last year, resulting in the development of the AMD Imageon media processors designed for a range of mobile multimedia applications.

These include mobile TV, video, photography, video telephony, music and 3D graphics processing.