Transitive Technologies named Technology Innovator of the Year; Manchester University Spin-Out Recognized For CPU Acceleration Software.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2002

Transitive Technologies, a Manchester University spin-out, has been named UK Technology Partnering & Investment Forum "Innovator of the Year" for its Dynamite(TM) CPU accelerator software technology.

The company, which received initial funding from Pond Venture Partners, was presented with the award at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on March 7th. The forum is sponsored by a number of organizations including PricewaterhouseCoopers and the London Stock Exchange.

Dynamite software performs dynamic binary translation and acceleration so that any microprocessor (CPU) hardware can achieve maximum run-time performance while running its own or a different CPU's code: for example, in an embedded application such as a set top box, it could enable access to X86 code (such as plug-ins) and execute it in the set top box MIPS CPU; or in mobile applications, it could take ARM-code and execute it on non-ARM CPUs with complete transparency to both the system and the user. In non-embedded applications, Dynamite could enable makers of "non -X86 " workstation, desktops, laptops, etc., migrate to X86 based platforms from Intel, AMD, or Transmeta, if they wanted to take advantage of a more aggressive price/performance roadmap.

Transitive Technologies licences the software on a per-CPU basis in a global CPU market estimated to be worth $23 billion.

Transitive's technical team is based in Manchester but its headquarters is now in San Diego, from where its U.S. sales and application support operations are directed. The company's CTO, Alasdair Rawsthorne, stated, "This award is the culmination of research work which started at the University of Manchester over five years ago. We are naturally delighted that in the short space of time since the company was formed, Dynamite has become so well accepted in the marketplace."

Transitive Technologies was founded in October 2000 after Pond Venture Partners identified that the technology being developed at the University of Manchester had great potential. It subsequently became involved in forming the spin-out company with an initial investment of $3 million. Richard Irving, Pond's CEO, commented, "This was a classic example of a Pond investment: we identified that the University had developed a technology which had wide application in many growing market segments, and we worked with them to form a company which could exploit it."

Editors' notes

The Dynamite technology dynamically accelerates software so that CPU hardware achieves maximum run-time performance when running a particular code set. It achieves this by continually monitoring streams of instructions, breaking these down into primitive expressions, and then recombining these for maximum execution efficiency. Several other optimizations are performed, all of which combine to collapse loops of code into very efficient instruction sequences. These "collapsed loops" are cached and retrieved when the same instruction loop repeats. In this way, Dynamite boosts the performance of any CPU. Dynamite can also be used to implement legacy functions by translating these into the new instruction set, allowing the CPU to be designed solely for maximum performance.

About the UK Technology Partnering & Investment Forum

The UK Technology Partnering & Investment Forum is a three-day event organized by the European Technology Forum (ETF) (www.euro-techforum.com), an organization that enables senior executives working with, or advising, the technology industry to meet on a regular basis. The ETF has a pan European network of 1200 members who meet on a quarterly basis in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Munich.

Pond Venture Partners

Pond Venture Partners, formed in 1998, manages venture capital funds, and exclusively targets early-stage companies in the UK and Europe, which possess breakthrough technology in communications infrastructure and processing platforms. It is currently working with its $80 million Pond II Fund and currently has $90 million under management.

Pond has brought Silicon Valley-style venture capital to Europe and is staffed by technologists. It works closely with founders and management in order to add value to portfolio companies, facilitate customer introductions at senior levels, assist in the establishment of U.S. and Japanese operations, and manage subsequent venture rounds. Pond Venture Partners is regulated by the FSA.