ST. ALBANS, England, July 11, 2007 – Low power consumption is one of the most important considerations for system-on-chip (SoC) designers creating products for next-generation electronic applications. This is a key reason why eleven companies in North America have adopted ARC International's (LSE: ARK) configurable media subsystem and processor solutions to create power-sensitive chips for medical, government/security, multimedia, and networking/peripheral devices. See the companion announcement dated July 11, 2007 for more details on one of these newly announced customer licensing agreements.
ARC's configurable solutions offer some of the lowest power consumption of any in the semiconductor intellectual property (IP) industry. For example, an "out-of-the-box" ARC® 750D core requires approximately half the power of an ARM 1136 or a MIPS32 24Kc core with similar configurations. SoC designers can lower power consumption of an ARC 750D processor (or any other ARC processor) even further by leveraging ARC's easy-to-use configurable technology to tailor it to specific application requirements.
ARC is extending its leadership in low power configurable subsystems and processors through internally led research and development (R&D) programs, working in tandem with advanced computing departments at renowned universities, and via joint initiatives with companies such as Cadence Design Systems and Virage Logic. The results of these efforts will be integrated into new products and technologies from ARC International.
Details on ARC's Newly Announced Customer Engagements:
Medical Applications CVRx
Long battery life is a requirement for implantable medical devices, such as blood pressure monitoring systems. For this reason, CVRx® based its new Rheos™ Baroreflex Hypertension Therapy™ System Monitor on a low power, configurable ARC 600 family core. CVRx is a private company located in Minnesota that has developed proprietary technology for the treatment of high blood pressure (also referred to as hypertension) that cannot be controlled with medications. See companion ARC news announcement dated July 11, 2007 for more details.
Unnamed Medical Applications Customer #1
This unnamed ARC customer is a world-recognized company, and a leader in the global medical products industry. Its less-invasive medical technologies offer alternatives to major surgery and other procedures that can be traumatic to the human body. This ARC customer's pacemaker devices incorporate configurable ARC cores, which were selected because they enable very low power consumption through the removal of unnecessary features in the ARC CPU. This greatly prolongs the battery life of this customer's ARC-Based™ products – a critical consideration for implantable medical applications.
Unnamed Medical Applications Customer #2
This unnamed ARC customer manufactures battery-powered, implantable medical devices. It is using a configurable ARC core to create an ultra low power product with a long operational life that can be inserted directly into patients' bodies.
Government/Security Applications Edgewater Computer Systems
Edgewater Computer Systems develops real time, high performance multiprocessor systems for military, government, and commercial operations. The company's products include multi-channel wireless and wired data communications. Edgewater is developing a wireless communications controller for use on aircraft, and will be using ARC's configurable solutions to minimize the power consumption and die size to exactly meet the stringent system requirements.
Unnamed Government/Security Customer
This unnamed customer is a leader in command, control and communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, government services, and related industries. The company chose a configurable ARC core for government and military applications because of its extremely low power consumption, which is critical to operating remote systems over long periods of time in unserviceable environments.
Networking/Peripheral Applications Conexant Systems
Conexant is a worldwide leader in semiconductor solutions for communications in the digital home. The company is using its license for a configurable ARC core to create an integrated solution that can be used in peripheral devices with combined printer/fax/scanner/copier functionalities. ARC's configurable core helps Conexant's design team reduce overall system power consumption by eliminating unneeded elements within the ARC CPU.
iVivity
iVivity is a leading developer of innovative, multi-protocol acceleration silicon for both the networking and storage markets. At the heart of the iVivtiy SoC is a patented hardware-based protocol acceleration engine that can terminate and regenerate multiple protocols in real time and at full line rate, independent of packet size. An ARC customer for a number of years, iVivity has taken a new license for the configurable ARC 725 core to create multi-processor SoCs. Leveraging the power of ARC's configurable core technology, iVivity's engineers will be able to optimize the ARC-Based chip for speed by adding custom instructions to the ARC core while keeping power consumption to a minimum by eliminating unneeded transistors.
Teranetics
Teranetics is a leading mixed-signal integrated circuit (IC) company that develops silicon products for advanced communication applications. Teranetics' chips enable 10-Gigabit speeds over the traditional copper cabling, which is an order of magnitude improvement over speeds in current enterprise networks. The company selected a configurable ARC core for its next-generation design because it enabled the creation of a low power solution with small die size, that helps the company's products meet customer price points.
Multimedia Applications Augusta Technology
Augusta provides mobile device manufacturers with a spectrum of solutions from state-of-the-art digital communications components to complete communications systems, such as cell phones and portable video viewing devices. Augusta is using a configurable ARC product to lower power consumption in their next-generation mobile solutions.
Qpixel Technology
Qpixel Technology is a leading innovator in video compression silicon and software solutions. The company specializes in digital consumer applications that balance superior video quality with extended hours of portable operation at mass market prices. Using its license for a configurable ARC core, Qpixel has successfully produced and deployed into the market its QL20x family of H.264 codecs, capable of supporting both Baseline and Main Profile standards. The low power nature of the configurable ARC processor enabled the QL201B and QL202B chips to provide flexible audio processing while consuming very low power, which is critical for portable multimedia applications such as digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players.
VisionFlow
VisionFlow is focused on developing ultra-low power H.264 video and multi-core media SoC solutions aimed at mobile and wearable video market applications. These include mobile-TV, wearable PMPs, and mobile video phones. Emerging markets call for programmable and power efficient real-time video compression/decompression solutions. To meet these challenges, VisionFlow has taken a license for numerous configurable ARC 600 family cores to design products such as the VF1000 ultra-low power H.264 video solution. According to John Yuan, VisionFlow's CEO, the ARC 600 core family offered the lowest power consumption per MHz for any CPU on the market. In addition, VisionFlow is adding customized instruction extensions to enhance the ARC cores' performance and functionality, which also helps prevent rival companies from cloning VisionFlow's products.
About ARC International plc
ARC International is the world leader in configurable media subsystems and CPU/DSP processors. Used by over 140 companies worldwide, ARC's configurable solutions enable the creation of highly differentiated system-on-chips (SoCs) that ship in hundreds of millions of devices annually. ARC's patented subsystems and cores are smaller, consume less power, and are less expensive to manufacture than competing products.
ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate and research and development offices in California and St. Albans, UK. For more information visit www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE: ARK).
