ARM Solidifies Lead as the Preferred Processor for Embedded, Portable and Consumer Applications; Industry Leading IP Provider Makes Several Announcements at ESCW; Expands its Partnership Model to Include 3rd-Party Tools, RTOS, General OS and EDA Partners; Plays Key Role in VSI Alliance: Aim is to Create and Accelerate 'system-on-a-chip' Industry.

SAN JOSE, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 1996--Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) today makes a number of important announcements at the Embedded Systems Conference West.

Among these are the addition of two new RTOS partners, a speech recognition port to the ARM architecture, a new development toolchain to speed system prototyping, EDA co-design support from industry leaders, and ARM's IP provider role as a charter member of the Virtual Socket Interface (VSI) Alliance.

These announcements are part of an on-going `open business model' strategy that has helped ARM evolve its Intellectual Property business into a world leader with 15 of the leading semiconductor manufacturers, all of the leading RTOS and EDA vendors and many large OEMs. The application, product, market, design and customer expertise working together among the ARM partners, makes the breadth of ARM system-on-a-chip capability second to none.

As evidenced by today's announcements, ARM has evolved that basic strategy to include a software model which aims to create better, more complete solutions to satisfy end customer needs.

"This staggering show of support for the ARM architecture confirms it is the industry's preferred embeddable processor for 16- and 32-bit applications in a broad range of markets. The ARM7, ARM7TDMI `Thumb', ARM8 and StrongARM designs are fueling our semiconductor partners' design wins at an ever increasing pace," said Robin Saxby, president and CEO of ARM. "ARM is quickly becoming the global 16-/32-bit embedded standard."

ARM Announcements at ESCW 96 Include:

--ARM Speeds System Prototyping with Enhanced Toolchain -- ARM announced a fully integrated development environment. The new toolchain combines improved software tools, co-design support and a system development board in a cohesive environment.

These additions speed system hardware and software co-development for high-performance, low-power ARM-based systems, reducing time-to-market and system costs for complex applications such as engine management, hard disk drives and cellular phones.

--Eagle Design Automation Adds ARM7TDMI to the Company's Library of Processor Models -- Eagle Design Automation, the leading supplier of virtual systems integration tools for the embedded market, announced support for the ARM family of microprocessors. An interface will connect Eagle's suite of hardware/software co-verification tools, called EagleiAE, to the ARMulator instruction set simulator.

--Eden Announces its Eden OS V2.0 for Handheld Computing Devices -- Eden Group Limited announced the availability of the latest version of its embedded real-time operating system, Eden OS V2.0. Eden OS V1.0 was released in 1995, and is currently used in the "Hitachi Multicommunicator Possible," now shipping and available in Japan.

--ESP Partners with ARM to Deliver RTXC RTOS for ARM Processors -- Embedded Systems Products, Inc. (ESP) and ARM announced the appointment of ESP as an ARM Software Partner. ESP will port its RTXC Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) to the ARM RISC processor family, as well as develop support packages for selected ARM-based boards manufactured by ARM Partners.

--Leading Electronics Firms Unite to Accelerate "System-on-a-Chip" Industry -- A group of more than 35 industry leading electronics firms today announced the formation of an open alliance to establish a unifying vision for the system-chip industry and the technical standards required to enable the "mix and match" of intellectual property (IP) blocks from multiple sources.

This will accelerate and exponentially increase the system-chip market growth, while dramatically speeding design cycles, and lowering IP productization and support investments.

--Mentor Graphics Partners with ARM -- Mentor Graphics Corporation announced its Hardware/Software Co-Design Business Unit has partnered with ARM to provide ARM7TDMI RISC processor support for its Seamless Co-Verification Environment (CVE), the revolutionary hardware/software co-verification product for complex embedded systems designs.

The ARM7TDMI Processor Support Package enables designers to verify the hardware/software interface of their embedded core ASIC before committing to silicon.

--Microware to Deliver OS-9 RTOS on ARM Architecture -- ARM and Microware Systems Corporation, a leading developer of real-time system software, announced OS-9, one of the leading Embedded RTOS and development environments, is being ported to the ARM microprocessor family.

--Motorola, Lexicus Division Announces Speech Recognition -- Motorola's Lexicus Division announced today that its small-memory speech recognizer designed for noisy environments has been ported to the ARM family of microprocessors. The ARM-based speech recognizer has demonstrated 99.8% accuracy in quiet, office environments.

Other tests have shown it to have an average recognition rate of 96% in high noise environments such as in a car with the stereo on and the windows open.

--Samsung Licenses ARM `Thumb' RISC Core -- Samsung Semiconductor Inc. (SSI) and Samsung Electronics Co. (SEC) announced an agreement to extend their technology license with ARM. Under the terms of the agreement, Samsung has acquired a license for the ARM7TDMI `Thumb' RISC processor core.

Samsung has also introduced the industry's first cost-effective, high-integration ASICs featuring embedded configurable DRAM. As gate densities evolve through 1997, Samsung customers will be able to integrate an unprecedented breadth of processor cores such as the ARM7 RISC, 80C52, PINE and the OAK digital signal processor (DSP).

Using these cores and others which will be added as the new line matures, Samsung is committed to bringing system-level integration to many new, emerging markets.

--Yokogawa Announces VirtualICE Co-Development and Verification Support for ARM -- Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced it has partnered with ARM to provide software/hardware co-design and co-verification support for the ARM family of 32-bit RISC microprocessors.

VirtualICE, Yokogawa's co-design and co-verification tool, greatly reduces development time of ARM-based systems, enabling designers to complete hardware and software debugging before prototypes are available.

CONTACT: Cain Communications

Mark Alden, 408/291-2580

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