ARM Strengthens Global Design Support With Addition Of Six New Partners to the ATAP Program

CAMBRIDGE, England, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- ARM (LSE: ARM; Nasdaq: ARMHY), the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, today announced it has strengthened its ATAP(TM) technology access program with the addition of six new Partners. The addition of Arcadia Design Systems (USA); MacroTech Research Inc. (USA); YogiTech S.r.l. (Italy); Inicore AG (Switzerland); Global Unichip (Taiwan); and Faraday Technology Corporation (Taiwan) to the program brings the total number of ATAP Partners to 25, with a combined ATAP engineering pool in excess of 2,400 engineers.

The ATAP program provides a framework for selecting and enabling competent design centers with the ARM® technology necessary for system-on-chip (SoC) designs. ARM core-based SoC developers are able to use ATAP Partner services to aid with some of the more complex tasks associated with SoC design, "bridging the gap" with any skill shortfall the developer may have.

Each of the new Partners has its own specific area of expertise, but combined, the ATAP program now offers one of the industry's most substantial resources for developers creating ARM core-based designs. The global presence of ATAP Partners in 15 countries means that design resource, talent and experience is available in any time zone, providing a comprehensive support network for the design and development of high-performance, low-power digital semiconductor devices.

"ARM's microprocessor cores are the technology of choice in a vast array of digital products and we need to ensure that our Partners have the best resources available to produce the best products possible and get those products to market quickly," said Dave Lewis, ATAP program manager, ARM. "The global coverage that the ATAP program offers represents one of the strongest support networks in the industry and our Partners have access to the highest design competencies available."

Arcadia Design Systems, Inc. is a recognized worldwide leader in the design and development of high-performance, low-power embedded microprocessor/ microcontroller and SoC IC designs. As a member of the ARM ATAP program, Arcadia brings this unparalleled capability and expertise to ARM's traditional silicon Partners, and SUDL (Single Use Design License) Partners via the ARM Foundry Program. The combination of these capabilities will result in truly innovative, high-performance and low-power embedded ARM designs and products.

MacroTech Research's services include net-list to production design service capabilities. MacroTech offers full life-cycle turnkey services for ARM Partners via its VirtualASIC.com , which currently focuses on the ARM architecture and leverages MacroTech's strong relationships with TSMC and UMC who both support the SUDL (Single User Design Licence) under the ARM Foundry Program.

YogiTech S.r.l. is ARM's first Italian ATAP Partner and offers a complete SoC design service, from device specification to back-end and finished product. The company offers both digital and analog design capabilities, plus verification, synthesis, test and layout services using the latest EDA and workstations.

Inicore AG is ARM's first Swiss ATAP Partner and is an experienced microelectronics system design house that specializes in the development of unique integration solutions. From analysis through concept and architecture, code generation and implementation, up to the final silicon, the company delivers a complete solution. By using its own core library as well as third-party cores, the company brings additional value to systems and accelerates time-to-market.

Global Unichip provides customers worldwide with two kinds of ARM core-based SoC services. One is an SoC turnkey service including design, verification, chip implementation and mass production. The other is design services for ARM's Partners currently developing systems around the ARM7TDMI®, the ARM922T(TM) and ARM946E(TM) microprocessor cores. Global UniChip also provides an SoC platform based on the AMBA® (Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture) standard. In addition to its suite of AMBA technology-compatible peripheral IP, UniChip has developed the UniChip AMBA Compiler, which can integrate AMBA IP automatically according to customers' requirements.

Faraday Technology Corporation employs more than 340 highly experienced engineers around the world dedicated to designing and developing IP while providing first-class ASIC and SoC design services. Faraday's experience of 32-bit CPU design and its insight into the ARM architecture will enable the company to rapidly progress future ARM core-based SoC projects. Faraday provides turnkey SoC services including developing peripheral IP, integrating IP through a robust design flow, porting RTOS (Real-time OS) and supervising the mass production process.

About the ATAP Program

There are currently 25 Partners in the ATAP program, with a resource of more than 2,400 engineers available to work on ARM core-based SoC designs. ATAP design Partners must go through a strict qualification process to become an ARM Approved Design Center. This includes a design flow audit, training on implementing designs with ARM cores, tools, AMBA interface peripherals and development techniques. Each Design Center must demonstrate its own unique skills in specific technology domains, as well as end-market expertise. The ATAP program also provides additional benefits such as geographic and time-zone locality and local language support. For more information on the ATAP program, please email info@arm.com or visit the ARM Web site.

About ARM

ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-on-chip designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming the volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at www.arm.com .

ARM, ARM Powered, ARM7TDMI and AMBA are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. ARM922T, ARM926E and ATAP are trademarks of ARM. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and Nasdaq: ARMHY); its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan; and ARM France SAS.

For further information, contact Michelle Spencer, ARM, +44-1628-427780, michelle.spencer@arm.com; or Patrick Hall, The Townsend Agency, +1-858-457-4888, ext. 112, phall@townsendagency.com, for ARM.