|
About MIPI Alliance:
Overview
The MIPI Alliance is a non-profit corporation that operates as an open membership organization. All companies in the mobile industry are encouraged to join, including handset manufacturers, semiconductor companies, hardware peripheral manufacturers, and operating system vendors. Today nearly 175 member companies actively participate in the Alliance. The common objective of MIPI members is to simplify the design and implementation of hardware and software by driving consistency in processor and peripheral interfaces, promoting reuse and compatibility in mobile devices. Ultimately, the MIPI Alliance will help enable the mobile industry to introduce more sophisticated devices at an accelerated rate.
Objectives and Impact
Membership Model
Structure and Governance
Technology
Objectives
and Impact
The mission of the MIPI Alliance is to benefit the entire mobile industry by establishing standards for hardware and software interfaces in mobile terminals. MIPI Alliance will also actively encourage the adoption of the specifications throughout the industry value chain.
Adopting a set of standard hardware interfaces will yield peripheral hardware products from multiple vendors which interface seamlessly with processor and system-on-a-chip products from multiple vendors. Since software is an integral component of many of these interfaces, some level of software standardization will enhance this improved inter-connectivity. Development time and effort will be reduced for all companies in the value chain, because less time and effort is wasted pursuing incompatible or conflicting paths.
The MIPI Alliance encourages participation from all companies in the mobile industry, including:
- Mobile Device Manufacturers
- Semiconductor Companies
- Software vendors including OS and applications
- Peripheral manufacturers
- IP providers
The role of the MIPI Alliance is complementary to other industry organizations such as Open Mobile Alliance and 3GPP, yielding benefits across the industry:
Benefits to Component Suppliers
- Better industry alignment on physical interfaces among processors
and peripheral devices
- Broader spectrum of hardware and software solutions to complement
each vendor's products
- Rapid definition and adoption of new interfaces to meet evolving
system requirements.
Benefits to Mobile Device Suppliers
- Rapid innovation & improved time to market by reducing system
design complexity
- Maximum application software portability due to common hardware
& software interfaces
- Wider availability of optimized peripheral devices like LCD's,
Cameras, and Communications ICs
Benefits to OS Vendors
- Common hardware and software interfaces provide standard view
toward the OS
- Maximum reuse & commonality in the OS port
Benefits to Consumers
- Advancements in mobile device technologies will reach the market sooner
Membership Model
Recognizing that different companies place different values on membership depending on their markets, resources and strategies, MIPI Alliance follows a tiered membership model similar to that of other successful industry organizations. The MIPI Alliance has structured its membership categories to facilitate involvement from all companies in the mobile industry.
The classes of membership in the MIPI Alliance are:
- Adopters can use MIPI Specifications to develop MIPI
Compliant products, and receive licenses to do so. Any company
may apply for adopter level membership.
- Contributors have all rights of Adopters plus the opportunity to help define MIPI Specifications by participating in the working groups. All Contributors'
applications are reviewed by the Board of Directors.
- Promoters are elected by the Board from the set of Contributors. Each Promoter has all rights of a Contributor plus a voting board seat. Promoters have limited, staggered terms and are elected (or re-elected) by the then-sitting board.
- Founders have all rights of a Promoter and a permanent board seat.
Additional information on membership levels, privileges, and responsibilities
are available in the Membership
section. The various rights and obligations of all classes of membership are defined in detail in the MIPI Alliance Bylaws document (pdf).
Specifications are drafted by Working Groups and approved by the board of directors.
Structure and Governance
MIPI Alliance, Inc. is a non-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors. The board approves and directs Working Groups to evaluate or develop standards to meet a specific interface requirement. Current Working Groups have been defined to focus on several areas. New Working Groups are created and older Working Groups may be terminated as market requirements for interface standards evolve over time. MIPI Specifications are drafted by Working Groups and approved by the Board of Directors. Additional information on the organization’s governance is available in the MIPI Alliance Bylaws document (pdf). View the organization’s Code of Conduct Policy (pdf). Copies of the U.S. IRS Form 1024 and Form 990 (commencing with the year 2008) are available for public inspection upon request. Make your request here.
The Board currently includes a single voting seat for representatives from Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments.
The current MIPI Board of Directors is comprised of the following representatives:
Joel Huloux, Chairman
STMicroelectronics N.V.
Sanjiv Desai
Intel Corporation
Frans Hoekstra
Motorola
Risto Savolainen
Nokia Corporation
Seung Ho Hwang
Samsung Electronics
Brian Carlson
Texas Instruments
Technology
The MIPI Alliance is primarily focused on smartphones and similar application-rich, networked devices, which we have termed mobile terminals. The distinctive requirements of mobile terminals drive the development of MIPI Specifications.
MIPI Specifications may also be applicable to other product categories, such as PDAs or other consumer electronics. The MIPI Alliance supports the use of MIPI Specifications in such products, although they are not a focus of the organization, nor do the unique requirements of such products drive the development of MIPI Specifications.
MIPI specifications may impact both hardware and software in mobile devices.
From a hardware perspective, a processor or system-on-a-chip typically has several ports or busses which interface to a variety of peripherals such as displays, cameras, memory, or communications devices. In addition, there may be interconnections among the peripheral devices. The MIPI Alliance is constantly analyzing these interconnect scenarios, and pursuing MIPI Specifications in those cases where standardization is likely to benefit the industry.
MIPI Specifications address only the interface technology, such as signaling characteristics and protocols. MIPI Specifications do not standardize entire application processors or peripherals. Products which utilize MIPI Specifications will retain many differentiating features. The MIPI Alliance does not seek to “commoditize” or drive pin-compatible, drop-in replacements among these products. Rather, we seek to create standards for these products to communicate with each other. By enabling products which share common MIPI interfaces, system integration is likely to be less burdensome than in the past.
The MIPI Alliance is agnostic regarding air interface or wireless telecommunication standards. Because MIPI Specifications address only the interface requirements of application processor and peripherals, MIPI Compliant products are applicable to all network technologies, including GSM, CDMA2000, WCDMA, PHS, TD-SCDMA, and others.
All MIPI Specifications are published in accordance with the MIPI Alliance Bylaws document (pdf).
|
