Accelerated Technology Offers Complete Nucleus Development Environment for Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGAs.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Embedded Systems Conference San Francisco 2004

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2004

Accelerated Technology(R), the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation today announced support for the hard PowerPC core embedded in Xilinx Virtex-II Pro(TM) field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) with the release of the Nucleus(R) Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), Microtec(R) C and C++ compilation tools and the XRAY(R) Debugger. Virtex-II Pro developers in the automotive, network infrastructure, storage area networks (SAN), telecom, medical and military/aerospace markets now have access to a complete family of software products from which to build embedded applications that need digital signal processing (DSP), high-speed serial connectivity and embedded processing.

Attendees of Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco can see a live demonstration of the Nucleus software and the Virtex-II Pro FPGA solution beginning March 30th by visiting the Accelerated Technology booth #1614.

The Nucleus RTOS from Accelerated Technology (AT) is highly optimized to provide the most efficient foundation for an embedded application. A widely implemented RTOS, the Nucleus software provides a complete family of embedded products fully scalable to the customer's needs. The Nucleus RTOS now available for the PowerPC core in the Virtex-II Pro FPGA provides access to embedded designers who have standardized on the Nucleus RTOS while accelerating the adoption of a high-performance and cost effective programmable embedded solution.

Virtex-II Pro FPGA developers can enhance their embedded application by using a range of Nucleus products including the Nucleus NET TCP/IP networking suite, the Nucleus FILE file management system and the Nucleus WebServ embedded Web server software. The XRAY debugger provides powerful debugging capabilities and comes with a consistent feature-set and user interface for all popular development hosts. Adding the Microtec(R) cross-compiler, assembler and linker complete the solution supporting embedded applications that use the PowerPC core in the Virtex-II Pro FPGA.

"Xilinx's FPGA and development tool technology leadership has enabled us to deliver a unique combination of advanced features, density, performance and cost-effectiveness to embedded developers," said Jerry Banks, director of Global Alliances for Xilinx. "This combined with Accelerated Technology's Nucleus RTOS support for both the MicroBlaze soft processor and now the hard PowerPC core embedded in the Virtex-II Pro FPGA gives customers access to industry leading solutions for a wide range of applications."

"This latest release adds to the already present Nucleus support for the MicroBlaze architecture from Xilinx. Now any developers using a processor-based Xilinx FPGA can take advantage of the popular Nucleus RTOS and its wide range of middleware," said Robert Day, director of marketing, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division.

Xilinx Virtex-II Pro and Virtex-II Pro X(TM) FPGAs are the world's first and only FPGAs to offer integrated PowerPC embedded technology along with the high-speed serial transceivers supporting speeds between 622 Mbps to 10.3125 Gbps. The Nucleus RTOS has been validated on the Memec Virtex-II Pro development board.

Pricing and Availability

Available now, licenses for the Nucleus software start at U.S. $12,495. Licenses for the XRAY Debugger start at $2,495 and licenses for the Microtec compiler begin at $2,400. For more information, please contact Accelerated Technology at 800-468-6853 or [e-mail].

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