LOS GATOS, Calif. — ARM Ltd. has entered a strategic alliance with 3Com Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.) that will see the ARM9 32-bit RISC processor core from ARM used in a future range of intelligent network-interface cards from 3Com.

While 3Com only discussed the alliance as it applies to the networking segment, ARM said it hoped the agreement is a prelude to the broader adoption of its processor cores by 3Com.

3Com's range of products extends from switches and routers at the high end to the Palm Pilot, a leading personal digital assistant, at the low end.

Under the companies' deal, 3Com has designed a network controller based on the ARM9 core that will power a forthcoming range of intelligent network-interface cards due to be announced in the first half of this year.

Donna Nutile, advanced network-interface card product manager at 3Com's LAN connection division, said the chip design had been completed and included both proprietary and ARM intellectual property. One reason 3Com chose ARM as a partner was the company's broad licensing of its ARM cores to semiconductor partners, which opens the door for 3Com to have its ASICs made by multiple sources, thereby ensuring supplies and keeping prices down, Nutile said.

"Our strategic alliance allows us to have a very close relationship with 3Com," said Denise Kerstein, ARM's networking business development manager. "We get a knowledge of their plans and they get knowledge of our road map."

Reynette Au, vice president of marketing at ARM, said: "While ARM has established itself as the processor of choice for wireless communication, this strategic alliance with 3Com further establishes ARM technology in volume networking products.

Research firm In-Stat Inc. estimated that 3Com owns more than 50 percent of the market for 10/100-Mbit/second Ethernet add-in cards, 3Com's Nutile said.