Accelerated Technology's Nucleus RTOS and Middleware Form Foundation for Sharp's New Open AQUOS Liquid Crystal Televisions.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

2004 International CES

MOBILE, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2004

Accelerated Technology(R), the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT), today announced that the Nucleus(R) Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) and much of its associated middleware have been used by Sharp Electronics Corporation to develop its new Open AQUOS liquid crystal televisions. Released Jan. 8, 2004 at the International Consumer Electronics Show, the Open AQUOS televisions are the first to offer television recording (even pausing live shows) without a set-top box. Fully wireless and Ethernet networked-equipped, the Open AQUOS televisions have the ability to share music, digital stills, video and more within a home networking environment.

Wanting more from their home entertainment systems, consumers are requesting features such as full media management over a home network, a basic personal video recorder (PVR) for record and playback capabilities, personalized applications like games, and a virtual machine to allow easy integration of these applications with the television. Sharp met all of these needs in the Open AQUOS television, which gives consumers more flexibility in wireless home networking than ever before.

"We found Accelerated Technology's Nucleus RTOS to have the desired levels of flexibility, performance and integration. These factors enabled Sharp to support the core applications included in the AQUOS today, but also will enable Sharp to enhance future Open AQUOS products with new applications desired by the consumer," said Paul Martinez, program manager, broadband platform technology for Sharp Laboratories of America.

The Nucleus RTOS from Accelerated Technology forms the basis of the Open AQUOS televisions. The Nucleus PLUS real-time kernel, highly scalable and robust, is the foundation for the Nucleus family of products. The Nucleus kernel can scale down to as small as 22kb for both code and data sizes. Tightly integrated with the real-time kernel is the Nucleus NET TCP/IP protocol stack. The networking stack has been developed for high-speed performance and optimal functionality, allowing for the AQUOS television to be connected to the home network

Meeting the new wireless home network demands, the Nucleus 802.11 STA software allows consumers to wirelessly connect between their AQUOS TV and the broadband home environment via wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi(R)) technology. Consumers can send photos or music files from their personal computers in another part of the house to the new Open AQUOS TV using the 802.11b technology.

The Nucleus FILE file management software provides a way to store digital still photographs, video clips or digital audio files in the memory of the Open AQUOS television. The additional Nucleus PCMCIA driver with hot swap capabilities also accompanies the Nucleus FILE software, allowing consumers to watch slide shows of their favorite digital still pictures using their camera's memory cards.

The final piece of middleware provided by Accelerated Technology was the CEE-J(TM) virtual machine (VM) technology with advanced graphics from Skelmir LLC. CEE-J provides the embedded VM technology needed to support the core applications included in the AQUOS sets. The implementation of both CEE-J and the Nucleus RTOS offer Sharp the opportunity to enhance future products with new applications and features desired by the customer.

"The Sharp Open AQUOS televisions are meeting the increased demands of today's multimedia consumer. The increased connectivity including wireless and memory cards means that a much closer relationship between middleware and RTOS is necessary from RTOS vendors. We are pleased that the Nucleus software and its associated middleware have met the requirements for this exciting generation of open televisions," said Robert Day, director of marketing, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division.

Pricing and Availability

The Nucleus embedded software is sold with source code and without royalty fees. Licenses for the Nucleus software begin at $12,495. For more information, please contact Accelerated Technology at 800-468-6853 or [e-mail].

Open AQUOS models are expected to be available second quarter of 2004 from Sharp.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $675 million and employs approximately 3,700 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

Accelerated Technology, Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation, is located in Mobile, Alabama with sales offices and distributors worldwide. By providing embedded systems developers with a focus on service, well-documented source code and industry-leading non-royalty-based Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) software, AT's RTOS software shortens time-to-market and provides a complete solution for engineers. For more information, please visit www.acceleratedtechnology.com or email us at [e-mail].

Mentor Graphics, Accelerated Technology, and Nucleus are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.