Agere Systems Initiates Purchase Agreement with Virage Logic for Embedded Memory IP

World's Leading Provider of Communications Components Incorporates Embedded Memory Into Its 90 Nanometer AGR90 ASIC Platform

Fremont, CA - July  18,  2002, Virage Logic Corp. (Nasdaq: VIRL), a global leader in embedded memory, today announced an expansion of its license agreement with Agere Systems (NYSE: AGR.A, AGR.B) to deliver a variety of embedded memory technologies for Agere's AGR90 application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) platform targeted for communications applications.

Under the agreement, Agere will license Virage Logic's Area, Speed, and Power (ASAP) high density (HD) embedded static random access memory (SRAM), manufactured using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation's (TSMC's) Nexsys™ 90 nanometer (nm) process technology. Additionally, Agere will license the Self-Test and Repair (STAR) HD-8M Memory System for TSMC's 0.13-micron logic process. This new licensing agreement builds upon successes Virage Logic has previously experienced with Agere providing ASAP and HD embedded SRAM and ROM on TSMC's 0.13-micron process.

Agere will use Virage Logic's embedded memories to gain key advantages in higher yielding chips that deliver high density, high performance and low power for products aimed at growth markets in networking equipment and other communications products. The ASAP HD memory addresses the needs of high-volume applications by providing low area and power with high speed, while the STAR HD-8M Memory System's self-test and repair capabilities provide significantly higher yield in designs using megabits of SRAM memories. Virage Logic's memories are developed using embedded memory design techniques that achieve industry-leading results in yield, area, speed, and power.

"Because Virage Logic has a proven embedded memory technology portfolio, Agere's customers can get complex products to market faster," said Mike DePaolis, director of ASIC memory and compilers, Agere Systems. "This faster product delivery is vital for Agere's 90-nm designs, which are targeted for communications markets. Combining Virage Logic's high-performance embedded memory technology with Agere's own 90-nm custom memory designs, provides our mutual customers with the increased bandwidth and functionality that their applications require, while keeping power consumption and system costs low."

Agere's AGR90 platform, built with a rich portfolio of communications intellectual property, can provide customers with pre-designed, semi-customized, or fully customized solutions, reducing customer design time and costs. The platform includes various types of standard protocols, serial/deserializer (SerDes) sub-circuits, encoding schemes, digital signal processors, I/O (input/output) cells, microprocessors, memory, and more.

"As on-chip memory increases, Virage Logic's STAR Memory System and the ASAP SRAM and ROM embedded memories are an economical, reliable and efficient way to embed multiple SRAM or ROM memories in designs to be manufactured using nanometer design rules," said Krishna Balachandran, director of product marketing at Virage Logic. "Our embedded memory technology, coupled with Agere's 90-nm communications-centric design platform, results in cost-effective products that are faster, consume less power and allow more features."

Superior for high-volume applications, the ASAP HD embedded memory is readily available and silicon proven. Optimized for area, the design starts with the bit cells. Adopting a full custom approach and extensively modeling interconnects allows for a very area-efficient implementation. To produce cost-effective designs using megabits of embedded memory, Virage Logic designed a system that includes three IP blocks that work seamlessly together. The STAR HD-8M Memory System embodies not only redundancy that replaces defective bits, but also a dedicated memory test and repair STAR processor that automatically accesses each memory instance on a system-on-chip (SoC). Through patented self-repair and redundancy allocation algorithms, the STAR Processor quickly tests and repairs each STAR memory.

About Virage Logic

Virage Logic (Nasdaq: VIRL) is a global leader in embedded memory for SoC applications. To meet customer design goals with the highest level of quality, Virage Logic products are silicon proven and production ready, and optimized for area, power and speed. These products include embedded memory cores, as well as software tools and custom memory design services. The company's customers include fabless semiconductor companies who use pure-play foundries and other semiconductor companies. The company has over 200 employees and is located at 46501 Landing Pkwy., Fremont, Calif., 94538. Telephone: (877) 360-6690 (toll free) or (510) 360-8000. Fax: (510) 360-8099.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT FOR VIRAGE LOGIC UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995:

Statements made in this news release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, for example, statements relating to Virage Logic's business outlook, new products and new relationships. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which might cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include Virage Logic's ability to maintain and develop new relationships with third-party foundries, adoption of technologies by semiconductor companies and increases in the demand for their products, the company's ability to overcome the challenges associated with establishing licensing relationships with semiconductor companies, the company's ability to obtain royalty revenues from customers in addition to license fees, business and economic conditions generally and in the semiconductor industry in particular, competition in the market for embedded memories and other risks including those described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended September 30, 2001, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 19, 2001, and in Virage Logic's other periodic reports filed with the SEC, all of which are available from Virage Logic or from the SEC's website (www.sec.gov), and in press releases and other communications. Virage Logic disclaims any intention or duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release.

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