Accelerated Technology Adds Configurable Nucleus RTOS and Middleware Support for Altera's Nios II Processors

MOBILE, Ala., Aug. 16, 2005 - Accelerated Technology™, a Mentor Graphics division (Nasdaq: MENT), today announced the release of a configurable version of the Nucleus® Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) with its corresponding middleware package for the Nios® II family of embedded processors from Altera Corporation. Embedded developers using the Nios II processors can now configure their software to better manage and build multi-core applications such as wireless broadband and Wi-Fi, cellular infrastructure, wire line, industrial control, automotive and medical.

"The addition of Accelerated Technology's configurable RTOS to the Nios II processor's growing ecosystem gives embedded developers even more flexibility in designing their systems," said Chris Balough director of software and Nios marketing at Altera. "The ability to easily reconfigure the FPGA gives embedded developers the ability to focus on their core competency and get their application to market quickly."

A major new feature of the Nucleus RTOS is the software's ability to automatically configure itself using Altera's Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and adjust to any hardware changes using Altera's SOPC Builder system-level development tool. Using the HAL developers can move hardware components in the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) without having to hand-code the addition, deletion or address changes into the Nucleus code. This increases the availability of the Nucleus software when the hardware core changes. Instead of spending hours modifying the target software to work with the new hardware configuration, a developer can configure the software automatically in minutes. This is especially valuable during the earlier design phases when the hardware may be changing frequently.

"Configurable hardware is often perceived as a problem for software engineers," said Robert Day, director of marketing, Accelerated Technology Division, Mentor Graphics. "With the close link between the Nios II processor's development platform and the Nucleus RTOS and middleware, the configuration takes place automatically, thus relieving those potential hardware/software issues."

Other Nucleus software components available to Nios II processor developers include APIs for C++, micro-ITRON and POSIX, a command line interface, the Nucleus NET networking stack, including encryption software and SSL technology, the Nucleus FILE file management system, embedded Web server and extended protocol package.

Pricing and Availability

The Nucleus embedded software is sold with source code and without royalty fees. Licenses for the Nucleus software begin at $12,495. For more information, please contact Accelerated Technology at 800-468-6853 or info@acceleratedtechnology.com.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of over $700 million and employs approximately 3,900 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/. 

Accelerated Technology, a division of Mentor Graphics Corporation, is located in Mobile, Alabama and has engineering sites, sales offices and distributors worldwide. As a leading provider of royalty-free, embedded real-time operating system (RTOS) software, Accelerated Technology helps developers accelerate product time-to-market in a wide range of embedded device applications. Its comprehensive Nucleus RTOS includes a high-level design UML suite, graphical prototyping tools, kernels, middleware and Eclipse-based development tools. For more information, please visit www.acceleratedtechnology.com or e-mail us at info@acceleratedtechnology.com.

Mentor Graphics, Accelerated Technology, and Nucleus are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.