Lara Technology signs strategic agreement with MIPS Technologies, Inc.

IP News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Ashwin Mody Director, VoIP Technical Marketing Lara Technology, Inc. 408-519-4550 ashwin@laratech.com Agency Contact: Melissa Newmann Walt & Company 408-496-0900 ext.2983 mnewmann@walt.com		Media Contact: Constance Sweeney Manager, Worldwide PR / IR MIPS Technologies, Inc. 650-567-5059 cks@mips.com

LARA TECHNOLOGY SIGNS STRATEGIC AGREEMENT WITH MIPS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Lara to Integrate MIPS-based™ Processor Cores into Voice-over-IP Switching Solutions

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – August 17, 1999 -- Lara Technology, Inc., a leader in networking and VoIP (voice-over-IP) switching systems, today announced it has signed a strategic technology agreement with MIPS Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: MIPS). Under the terms of the agreement, Lara will receive access to 32-bit MIPS-based? cores for integration into its MediaExpressTM technology for a system-on-a-chip (SOC) solution. This MediaExpressTM processor is an ultra high performance VoIP switching fabric which enables extremely low latency and PSTN quality voice transport over IP Networks for the emerging high-speed broadband and network convergence markets.

"MIPS Technologies' industry leadership and expertise in providing affordable high-performance and scalable processor cores for the embedded market makes it a natural choice for Lara," said Raj Saksena, vice president VoIP Business Development at Lara Technology. "We are enabling the convergence of telecommunications and data communications and making Voice-over-IP a reality."

The agreement reaffirms Lara Technology's commitment to providing Unified Services Exchange?, a high performance voice-over IP carrier grade switching system. Lara plans to include multiple MIPS-based™ cores in its MediaExpressTM processor designs and chose the MIPS® architecture because of its high performance, increased scalability, established software infrastructure and the ease with which Lara could adopt this intellectual property. The MIPS® architecture has a solid roadmap; is proven in a broad range of applications, and is supported by more than 170 software and design tools.

"We are pleased that Lara Technology has chosen MIPS-based™ processor cores as the foundation for its Unified Services Exchange? VoIP Switch," said Derek Meyer, vice president of marketing and sales, MIPS Technologies, Inc. "Voice-over-IP is quickly becoming a requirement in the network convergence market and Lara is enabling a new generation of innovative applications."

About Lara Technology, Inc.
Lara Technology, Inc., headquartered in San Jose, California, was founded in 1997 with a mission to become the premier supplier of system solutions for the emerging high-speed broadband and network convergence markets. Leading the advance in the migration of telephony from circuit networks to packet networks, Lara is enabling a new generation of innovative applications through the integration of voice and data communications.

Lara's carrier-class Unified Services Exchange provides seamless interoperability between Voice over IP services and today's Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Our unique open modular architecture enables rapid deployment of New World services allowing Next Generation Service Providers and third-party developers to build new revenue generating streams and increase their competitiveness in the new converged network.

About MIPS Technologies, Inc.
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is the world's primary architect of embedded 32- and 64-bit RISC processors. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. It offers the only embedded 64-bit RISC architecture for emerging digital consumer, network systems, and information management applications. The company licenses its intellectual property to semiconductor manufacturing companies, ASIC developers, and system OEMs. MIPS Technologies, Inc. and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. Developers can choose from a broad menu of price/performance options that include execution units, clock speeds, instruction widths (16-, 32- or 64-bit), cache sizes, memory bandwidths, memory protection schemes, system interfaces, and on-chip system logic.

Licensees of MIPS Technologies currently include: Alchemy Microprocessor Design Group; Broadcom Corporation; CommQuest (IBM); Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT); LSI Logic Corporation; Macronix; NEC Corporation; NKK Corporation; Philips Semiconductors; Quantum Effect Design, Inc. (QED); Sony Corporation; Synova; Texas Instruments Incorporated and Toshiba Corporation. Numerous companies utilize MIPS-based™ intellectual property. MIPS Technologies, Inc. is based in Mountain View, California, and can be reached at 650-567-5000 or http://www.mips.com.