Arteris, a start-up developing Network on Chip (NoC) Intellectual Property, names Philippe Geyres to its Board of Directors

Semiconductor Industry Veteran Provides Business Expertise, Experience to Start-up Focused on Network-on-Chip (NoC) Solutions

PARIS, France, December 21, 2004 — Arteris SA, a start-up developing innovative products for Network on Chip (NoC) Intellectual Property, today announced that Philippe Geyres, Corporate Vice President and General Manager Consumer and Microcontroller Groups at STMicroelectronics, has joined the company’s board of directors. The addition of Geyres brings another seasoned semiconductor executive to the Arteris team as the company completes initial product development and begins commercial relationships.

Arteris introduced its innovative approach to solving complex System on Chip (SoC) challenges in the Spring of 2004, unveiling plans to develop new solutions to improve the performance and system-level integration of this class of device. The company’s NoC approach advances current design techniques that rely on bus-based technologies, and allows designers to build a true network on chip to connect the variety of subcomponents and IP blocks on an SoC.

“Having someone of Philippe’s caliber and background on our team is a coup for Arteris. He brings a new perspective and dimension to our board and advisory teams. His understanding of both the business and technology dynamics of complex SoC design will be invaluable as we prepare to bring our first products to market,” said Alain Fanet, president and CEO of Arteris. “We are looking forward to leveraging Philippe’s knowledge in developing our strategies for this exciting emerging market opportunity.”

“Arteris is addressing a challenge that is one of the fundamental limitations to realizing the full potential of system on chip architectures. Their approach is both a natural progression over bus-based techniques but also a major enhancement over current ways to design a highly integrated SoC,” said Geyres. “I am excited to be able to be involved at this stage of the company’s evolution and am eager to work with this very talented team.”

Geyres began his professional career in 1973 with IBM at Corbeil-Essonnes, near Paris, before joining the Schlumberger Group in 1980, working first in its Petroleum Equipment operations and then at Fairchild Semiconductors, which was owned by Schlumberger at the time.

In October 1983, Geyres was appointed Director of Thomson Semiconductor’s Bipolar Integrated Circuits Division. Following the merger in June 1987 of Thomson Semiconducteurs and SGS Microelettronica, he was nominated Corporate Vice President, Strategic Planning, of SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics, the Company that changed its name to STMicroelectronics in May 1998.

In 1990, he accepted a new challenge as General Manager of the Company's Programmable Products Group. Following a re-organization in 1998, this group became known as the Consumer and Microcontroller Groups (CMG) and includes differentiated products for digital consumer, cameras, TV and monitors as well as micro controllers. Most recently, Geyres played a key role in establishing ST's design and application centers in Rabat, Morocco, and Tunis, Tunisia, to develop advanced SoC products for digital consumer.

Geyres graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris in 1973. He is a member of ISTAG, the Advisory Group to the European Commission on Information Society.

About Arteris
Arteris, SA, provides Network on Chip solutions to transport and manage the on-chip communications within complex System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated circuits, increasing performance while enabling the most complex IP-laden designs. It allows chip developers to implement efficient and high-performance Network-on-Chip (NoC) designs, overcoming limitations of traditional interconnect approaches such as layered or pipelined bus-based architectures. Arteris’ technology is scaleable in terms of the number of IP blocks designers can network, as well as with silicon manufacturing process  evolution. The NoC solutions are compatible with existing design flows and with IP interface standards. The company, founded by semiconductor industry veterans and backed by an international set of venture capitalists, is based in Paris. Arteris has raised more than $12 million in early funding from an international set of venture capitalists, including Crescendo Ventures, Techno Venture Management and Ventech. More information can be found at www.arteris.net.

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Arteris and Network on Chip (NoC) are trademarks of Arteris SA.  All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.