ARM Collaborates With DSP IP Leaders On DSP Integration Specification

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Apr. 22, 2003 – ARM [(LSE:ARM);(Nasdaq:ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, today announced at Embedded Systems Conference, San Francisco, that it is collaborating with LSI Logic and ParthusCeva to develop a standard Digital Signal Processing (DSP) integration specification This specification is aimed at addressing the technical aspects surrounding the integration of DSP cores with ARM and other microprocessor cores in system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The specification will be announced in the second half of 2003 and follows the earlier announcement that LSI Logic and ParthusCeva have joined the ARM® PrimeXsys™ Community Program (see press release… ARM PrimeXsys Community Program Expands with Addition of DSP IP Vendors…Apr. 14, 2003).

Digital devices of tomorrow will offer greatly advanced functionality, combining many features into one package. Devices such as portable audio players, mobile phones and set top boxes will bring greater design challenges as they evolve to deliver this advanced functionality by combining a DSP and multiple microprocessor cores in the same SoC.

This collaboration brings together two of the industry's foremost DSP IP companies alongside ARM's leading microprocessor expertise and a number of ARM's semiconductor design Partners, to address this challenge by bringing commonality across the hardware and software standards that exist for the interconnect of such cores.

As well as this collaboration on DSP and microprocessor core integration, ARM is working independently on system-wide, on-chip multi-core debug and trace solutions that will address and unify other SoC technology aspects such as bus architecture, debug and real-time trace. This solution will define how each of the elements within an SoC interact more efficiently and will enable each element to be monitored and optimized through one single source. This advanced debug and trace capability will be key to the final DSP specification.

"As devices get smarter and offer new levels of functionality, the ability to integrate microprocessor and DSP cores becomes increasingly important," said Matthew Byatt, DSP program manager, ARM. "Integration of these two major elements is now a serious design consideration and this collaboration will enable us and our Partners to develop a standard DSP integration specification that will significantly advance the capabilities of the next generation of digital electronic-based devices."

"In a similar way that the AMBA™ methodology brought time-to-market benefits to system interconnect, this specification will further accelerate the time-to-market for multi-core and DSP designs," added Byatt.

"The majority of our SoC customers require a readily integrated controller and DSP subsystem. The convergence of ARM and ZSP hardware and software will significantly shorten time-to-market and save system development cost," said Tuan Dao, vice president, DSP Products Division, LSI Logic. "LSI Logic and ARM have years of experience in working together and leading the industry in SoC and ASIC. This experience can now be combined to offer out-of-the-box solutions of the two most critical processing engines in integrated circuits."

"With our leadership in the DSP licensing market, we understand fully the design issues surrounding integration of DSPs with microprocessor cores such as ARM technology," said Sean Mitchell, VP, Strategic Marketing, ParthusCeva. "Coupled with ARM's leading position in the embedded microprocessor market, our expertise in embedded DSP markets and the expertise of the other partner in the collaboration, will enable us to successfully develop and deliver an optimized industry standard that will solve a major industry design problem."

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 a volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, handheld computing, multimedia, digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. PrimeXsys and AMBA 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; ARM France SAS; and ARM China. Consulting (Shanghai) Co.Ltd.