ARM Announces Availability Of DSP Interface Specification

Standard DSP interface specification to accelerate time-to-market and reduce system development cost.

CAMBRIDGE, UK - Sept. 29, 2003 –ARM [(LSE:ARM}; Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, today announced the immediate availability of its Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Interface Specification. The specification, which addresses the technical aspects of integration of DSP cores with ARM® cores and other microprocessor cores in system-on-chip (SoC) designs, will help solve a major industry design problem.

Digital devices of the future will offer greatly enhanced functionality and integrate many features into a single unit. As they evolve to deliver this advanced functionality, devices such as portable audio players, mobile phones and set-top boxes will demand greater design challenges by combining a DSP and multiple microprocessor cores in the same SoC.

The new specification addresses this challenge by offering standardization across hardware and software that enables such cores to interconnect. Building on the ARM standardization approach, the specification enables Partners to interface ARM designs and DSP designs as simply as possible. Partners will now benefit from a greatly reduced design and verification timeline and process, with optimized system performance.

The specification will further accelerate time-to-market for multi-core and DSP designs in a similar way that the AMBA™ methodology brings time-to market benefits to system interconnect. The new specification also enables significant reductions in system development cost by offering an out-of-box solution for integrating the two most critical processing engines in integrated circuits.

"We are about to see digital devices becoming much smarter and offering more extensive functionality. The ability to integrate microprocessor and DSP cores will become imperative for the customer design roadmap," said Matthew Byatt, DSP marketing manager, ARM. "Integration of these two elements is now an important design consideration and ARM and its Partners have developed a standard DSP interface specification that will advance the capabilities of the next generation of digital devices."

The new specification arises from ARM's collaboration with industry-leading DSP IP provider LSI Logic and ParthusCeva, the leading licensor or DSP to the semiconductor industry, who have many years of experience in working together in SoC and ASIC.

Editors Note: Consumer Technology titles

Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are becoming increasingly important components for embedded applications. For example, among the consumer products that rely on DSPs are cell phones, MP3 players, DSL and cable modems, and digital camcorders. Applications using DSPs abound as well in the commercial and industrial markets. Typically, these DSPs interact with conventional microcontrollers (MCUs), forming multicore SoC devices.

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, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at www.arm.com.

ARMis a registered trademark 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; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; and ARM Belgium N.V.

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