CoWare Introduces Next Generation MeP Platforms

MeP Models Give Users The Ability To Build Virtual Platforms For Early Software Development And Exploration Of Different Design Alternatives Pre-Silicon

San Jose, CA -- October 9, 2006 -- CoWare, Inc., the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services, announced the introduction of next generation MeP platforms. CoWare will provide the high-level, high-speed MeP models in the CoWare ESL product suite and Toshiba will provide the register-transfer-level (RTL) tools needed. The two companies will deliver MeP configurable platform models within the CoWare ESL tools set to mutual customers, giving these customers the ability to quickly explore several different MeP-based design alternatives very early in the design cycle.

The complete CoWare ESL tool suite that Toshiba and CoWare will market and that Toshiba used to develop its MeP models includes Processor Designer, CORXpert for MeP, Platform Architect, and Virtual Platform Designer.

The New MeP IP Library

The new MeP IP library is a combination of models and tools that include MeP models at multiple levels of abstraction, the MeP Design Kit for configuring the memory subsystem and the interconnect, and CORXpert for MeP which adds customized instructions to the MeP core so that customers can focus on increasing the performance speed of the application software.

The availability of the new IP library within the CoWare ESL suite means that customers can optimize overall system performance by being able to make the right choice for the bus hierarchy and optimize the software by being able to profile it on the actual target rather than just the host machine.

Instead of spending design time trying to understand the architecture of the MeP, CoWare and Toshiba customers can now focus on the design of their products. The MeP models enable them to build virtual platforms for early software development and exploration of different design alternatives pre-silicon. This helps these customers design high performance, configurable products with highly-differentiated software and hardware. Mr. Takashi Yoshimori, Technology Executive of SoC Design at Toshiba Semiconductor Company said, "With Toshiba's MeP, the customer gets a highly-configurable, multi-processor platform, which helps them design highly-differentiated products. The advanced MeP IP library will bring high-speed models to customers that enable early software development and optimization as well as easy customization of the hardware."

"The extensive usage of the CoWare ESL tools during the development of the MeP is a great proof-of-concept for the CoWare technology," said A.K. Kalekos, vice president marketing and business development at CoWare. "We believe this development with Toshiba is an excellent example of how IP should be delivered to the market."

Availability

The MeP IP Library will be available from CoWare at the end of October.

About MeP

MeP is Toshiba's proprietary configurable processor that allows designers to customize processor configurations, including custom instructions and embedded memory capacity, in about 1 billion different combinations. The processor features small chip size, low power consumption and high-speed processing. It is based on a 32-bit RISC processor, appropriate for digital media products that require processing of large volumes of image and audio data, such as digital TVs and DVD recorders. For more information about MeP, please visit www.mepcore.com/e/.

About CoWare

CoWare is the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services. CoWare offers a comprehensive set of ESL tools that enable electronics companies to "differentiate by design" through the creation of system IP including embedded processors, on-chip buses, and DSP algorithms; the architecture of optimized SoC platforms; hardware/software co-design; and virtual platforms for device software development. The company's solutions are based on open industry standards including SystemC. CoWare's customers are major systems, semiconductor, and IP companies in the market where consumer electronics, computing, and communications converge. CoWare's corporate investors include ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], Cadence Design Systems (Nasdaq: CDNS), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE). CoWare is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has offices around the world. For more information about CoWare and its products and services visit http://www.coware.com.