ARM Expands Foundry Program With TSMC

CAMBRIDGE, England and HSIN-CHU, Taiwan, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- ARM [(LSE: ARM);(Nasdaq: ARMHY - news)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor technology, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) today announced that TSMC is the first semiconductor foundry to license the ARM946E(TM) and the ARM1022E(TM) cores for manufacture through the ARM® Foundry Program. ARM recently expanded the number of microprocessor cores available through its Foundry Program to include the ARM946E and the ARM1022E cores. ARM will provide design kits for these two cores in late 2001, with silicon fabrication beginning at TSMC in early 2002.

By licensing these two cores as part of its Foundry relationship with ARM, TSMC is able to offer designers a new level of choice and support for ARM core-based applications. TSMC will support the ARM946E core on its 0.18-micron and 0.13-micron core logic processes. The ARM1022E core will be supported on TSMC's 0.13-micron low-voltage process.

The ARM946E and the ARM1022E cores both offer outstanding system performance, combined with industry-leading power efficiency. The ARM1022E core consumes only 0.6mW/MHz including caches, while the ARM946E core uses less than 0.4mW/MHz in TSMC's 0.13u process.

"TSMC's licensing of the ARM946E core and the ARM1022E core provides designers of next-generation ICs with a full range of ARM core-based, low-power, high-performance microprocessor options," said Peyman Kazemkhani, IP program director for TSMC. "This also expands the scope of our association with the ARM Foundry Program and qualifies the cores for TSMC's 5-Star IP Alliance program."

"Expansion of the ARM Foundry Program through TSMC's licensing of the ARM946E core and the ARM1022E core demonstrates the demand for ARM technology through the Program," said Antonio Viana, director, Foundry Program, ARM. "Our partnership with TSMC increases access to ARM technology and assures availability of design and manufacturing resources for our Partners. TSMC is helping to provide a critical advantage in applications where lower development costs and quicker time-to-market are important factors of success. With the addition of these cores to the Program and TSMC's next-generation process technology, the ARM Foundry Program will continue to grow at a strong rate."

The ARM1022E core implements the ARMv5TE instruction set which includes 16-bit fixed-point DSP instructions to accelerate signal processing algorithms, as well as supporting the Thumb® 16-bit instruction set for high-code density. It is designed for a broad variety of applications ranging from next-generation hand-held devices and digital consumer products, to automotive and industrial control systems. The ARM946E core is ideally suited for wide range of embedded applications including imaging products, networking systems, automotive control and audio and video decoding.

About the ARM Foundry Program

The ARM Foundry Program is an innovative business model that enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in emerging markets to gain access to ARM processor technology for use in the design and manufacture of advanced system-on-chip (SoC) solutions. There are currently 25 Partners in the Foundry Program, which launched in 1999. ARM currently offers the ARM7TDMI®, the ARM922T(TM), the ARM946E and the ARM1022E cores through the Foundry Program.

The Foundry Program offers a flexible partnership model that accelerates the time-to-market for ARM core-based designs and enables OEMs, which do not have access to fabrication facilities, to work directly with an approved ARM semiconductor foundry. Unlike a traditional ARM license, where a licensee gains both manufacturing and design rights, the ARM Foundry Program builds a three-way Partnership between ARM, an approved silicon foundry, and an OEM.

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 .

About TSMC

TSMC is the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry's leading process technology and the foundry industry's largest alliance of process-proven library, IP, design tools and reference flows. The company operates two advanced 300mm wafer fabs, seven eight-inch fabs and two six-inch wafer fabs. TSMC also has substantial capacity commitments at two joint ventures fabs (Vanguard and SSMC) and at its wholly-owned subsidiary, WaferTech. In early 2001, TSMC became the first IC manufacturer to announce a 0.10-micron technology alignment program with its customers. TSMC's corporate headquarters are in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan. For more information about TSMC go to http://www.tsmc.com .

ARM, Thumb and ARM7TDMI are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. ARM922T, ARM946E, and ARM1022E are trademarks of ARM Limited. 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, please contact Michelle Spencer of ARM, +44-1628-427780, michelle.spencer@arm.com; or Patrick Hall of The Townsend Agency, +1-858-457-4888, ext. 112, phall@townsendagency.com, for ARM.