ARM Delivers AMBA AHB SystemC Specification

ARM announces availability for download of a new SystemC standard for modeling AMBA AHB systems

CAMBRIDGE, UK – July 23, 2003 – ARM [(LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq:ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, today announced the availability for download of the AMBA™ AHB Cycle-Level Modeling Specification. Together with leading tools vendors, system-level design companies and other intellectual property (IP) providers, ARM has created a new methodology that will enable designers of complex systems to use IP built according to the interface specification for the exploration of AMBA methodology-based SoC architectures. Designers working with AMBA methodology-based systems will now be able to better explore AMBA designs earlier in the product cycle and ensure they deliver the right product quickly and to customer requirements.

"ARM is committed to working with its Partners to develop and promote open technology solutions from which the whole design community can benefit," said Jonathan Morris, systems program manager, ARM. "This SystemC Modeling Specification is an excellent demonstration of the continued evolution and innovation of the AMBA methodology for system-level design."

"The complexity crisis emerging from the capabilities created by 90nm design demands new system-level design tools," said Jim Tully, vice president and chief analyst, Gartner. "The establishment of a standard for the representation of AMBA AHB in SystemC will speed up system-level design by improving the interoperability of tools and IP, resulting in a reduced time-to-market that could save a huge amount of time in system integration."

Availability

The AMBA AHB Cycle-Level Modeling Specification is open and free of any charges. A is available now for download from the ARM® website at http://www.arm.com/armtech/AMBA. To protect the integrity of AMBA technology, the specification is made available under a simple license agreement broadly in line with the widely-accepted AMBA 2.0 specification licensing agreement.

Technical Details

The AMBA AHB Modeling Specification is a fully cycle-accurate representation of the AMBA AHB protocol. Designers of complex systems will be able to use the Interface Specification to explore detailed AMBA interconnect issues and co-validate their system models with RTL implementations. Besides full support of the AMBA AHB protocol, the Interface Specification includes the AHBlite protocol that is widely adopted for high-performance bus-matrix architectures.

As a result of more than 18 months of work, the Modeling Specification demonstrates a capability that has been extensively trialed both internally and with a wide range of designers. The new Modeling Specification will be supported by a wide range of SystemC design tools including ARM's recently announced RealView® Model Library (see ARM Announces Launch of RealView Model Library … May 14, 2003).

ARM and its Partners are also engaged in a similar process to deliver AMBA modeling specifications for higher levels of abstraction. Collaboration in this process has begun and ARM expects initial results of this work in late Q3 of this year.

About AMBA

The AMBA specification is an established, open methodology that serves as a framework for SoC designs, effectively providing the 'digital glue' that binds IP cores together. It is the backbone of ARM's design reuse strategy and has been adopted by a large part of the industry including more than 90 percent of ARM Partners, and a large number of non-ARM IP providers. The specification has been downloaded by more than 12,000 design engineers and implemented in hundreds of ASIC designs.

With a wide third-party IP base and extensive EDA tool support from many of the industry's leading EDA suppliers, the AMBA methodology provides a quality solution for interface-based design of high-performance systems. Since the AMBA interface is processor and technology independent, it enhances the reusability of peripheral and system macrocells across a wide range of silicon processes.

About SystemC and OSCI

The Open SystemC™ Initiative (OSCI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization composed of a broad range of companies, universities and individuals dedicated to supporting and advancing SystemC as an open source industry standard for system-level design. SystemC is the standard design and verification language built in C++ that spans from concept to implementation in hardware and software. The SystemC platform, that includes the SystemC specification source code and reference manual, can be downloaded at http://www.systemc.org.

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 and RealView are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. AMBA 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 Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. .