Spreadtrum Licenses ARM Core For Wireless Solutions

SUNNYVALE, CALIF., and CAMBRIDGE, UK – Jan. 21, 2003 – Spreadtrum Communications Inc., and ARM [(LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq:ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor technology, today announced that Spreadtrum has licensed the ARM7TDMI® microprocessor core.

This agreement will enable Spreadtrum to provide its customers with innovative and power-efficient solutions for wireless applications such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other mobile devices.

"ARM's advanced processor technology provides a strong foundation for Spreadtrum products such as our baseband ASIC SC6600 product and other software-based solutions. It enables us to implement our innovative system architecture design," says Dr. Ping Wu, president of Spreadtrum Communications. "By utilizing the industry-leading ARM7TDMI core, we can develop high performance, small die size, low-power consumption and very low-cost total system solutions that address the needs of wireless equipment manufacturers and mobile terminal vendors. We look forward to enhancing our integrated circuit solutions for next-generation wireless terminals with ARM's core technologies."

Spreadtrum's SC6600 product is a highly integrated GSM/GPRS single baseband system containing all baseband digital signal processing, analog processing, power management, power amplifier controller and the peripheral circuitries. It is designed as a single chip solution in 0.18µm mixed-signal CMOS technology, with 180pin LFBGA package to achieve higher performance and lower system cost.

"This agreement further demonstrates the industry's acceptance of the ARM® core as a de facto standard for wireless applications," said Oliver Gunasekara, director, Wireless, ARM. "Spreadtrum's decision to integrate the ARM architecture into its leading-edge wireless communication solution will enable them to provide a low-power single chip baseband solution."

Spreadtrum is a novice and innovative total wireless solution company, not only providing baseband chipsets, but also software protocol stacks, and completed total wireless solutions for mobile devices. In addition, Spreadtrum offers a Microsoft® Windows® technology-based Software Development Platform (SDP) as well as sets of production tools to provide the maximum flexibility and fast time-to-market to customers.

The ARM7TDMI core is a very small, high-performance and power-efficient 32-bit RISC processor. It includes the 16-bit Thumb® code compression extensions, advanced Embedded-ICE® on-chip debug and support for the ARM real-time embedded trace technology with the ETM7™ macrocell. The ARM7TDMI core is an ideal solution for ASIC integration.

About Spreadtrum Communications
Spreadtrum Communication Inc. is a top fabless semiconductor company developing and marketing innovative digital wireless communications products. The company provides 2.5G, 3G base band chip set, software protocol stack, software development platform, and total solution for wireless equipment manufactures, mobile terminal vendors, and semiconductor companies. Spreadtrum leverages its expertise in mix signal design, software and software application, and wireless data communication to deliver customers with high performance, low power consumption, cost effective, and flexible and highly integrated turn-key solutions. More information about Spreadtrum can be found on its website at http://www.spreadtrum.com.

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 (SoC) designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a 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.

ENDS

Spreadtrum is a registered trademark and SC6600 is a trademark of Spreadtrum Communications Inc. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

ARM, ARM7TDMI and Embedded-ICE are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. ETM7 is a trademark 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; ARM France SAS; and ARM China.