ARM Launches AMBA Compliance Program and AMBA Compliance Testbench

Program formed to promote full AMBA SoC compliance certification

CAMBRIDGE, UK -- Feb. 5, 2003 – ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, today announced the launch of the AMBA™ Compliance Program. The Program enables IP developers who have verified their IP against the standard AMBA compliance specification, through the use of an AMBA Compliance Testbench (ACT) product, to use the "AMBA Compliant" trademark and to promote their Intellectual Property (IP) as possessing the reuse benefits of AMBA compliance.

The AMBA Compliance Program serves two purposes: Ensuring the interoperability of AMBA technology-based IP and encouraging the development of AMBA Compliant third-party solutions. The benefit to the IP creator is that they can verify the AMBA interface to the block and then promote their IP as certified to the AMBA specification. The benefit to the IP user is that they can easily identify the IP that has been verified to the AMBA interface standard. By using certified IP, the IP user reduces their risk and improves their time-to-market.

"AMBA technology is rapidly becoming the interconnect architecture of choice for system-on-chip (SoC) designs used in a wide array of embedded systems and is utilized by a large number of leading semiconductor IP developers," said Tim Mace, AMBA Program manager, ARM. "Together with other adopters of the AMBA standard, we wanted to expand the interoperability of IP amongst the AMBA community to encourage IP reuse for AMBA technology-based designs."

AMBA compliance addresses the demand from organizations that have invested in AMBA technology, such as NEC Electronics and Infineon Technologies, that IP can be confidently integrated into AMBA technology-based designs. .

"NEC's AMBA technology-based SoC design platforms, like SoCLite, enable the rapid and cost-effective design of AMBA technology-based systems," said Dr. Ulrich Giese, general manager, NEC Electronics (Europe), LSI & Discrete Business Unit. "The use of AMBA Compliant IP components will significantly increase confidence in system integration."

"To achieve rapid time-to-market, it is critical that our AMBA IP can be easily integrated and functions first time," said Klaus Hau, vice president and general manager Wide Area, Secure Mobile Solutions, Infineon Technologies AG. "The potential to test AMBA interfaces for AMBA compliance is a valuable addition to our verification methodologies."

IP is verified against the standard AMBA specification through the use of AMBA Compliance Testbench products that have been created to comply with the AMBA Compliance Testbench specification. The AMBA Compliance Testbench specification is available, under license from ARM.

AMBA Compliance Testbench products automate the process of IP verification against the AMBA compliance specification and reduce testbench development time by providing a simple to use modular environment. The simplified format allows fast simulation and parallel development of modules and system design by integrating efficiently into the user's development environment, thereby enabling the self-certification process that is essential to the AMBA Compliance Program.

"It is important that AMBA Compliance Testbenches available to support the widest possible variety of design flows to ensure IP developers are able to test AMBA compliance within their own chosen verification environment," added Tim Mace.

ARM has developed its own AMBA Compliance Testbench product that is now available for licensing and fully supports the compliance certification of IP and the participation of the AMBA Compliance Program.

The AMBA Compliance Testbench product from ARM supports the development of AMBA IP by providing powerful testbench components. It was developed with the support of Verisity Ltd., (Nasdaq: VRST), and is delivered in such a way that it can interface seamlessly into any verification environment.

"The ARM® AMBA Compliance Testbench product enables all customers developing AMBA technology-based systems and IP to ensure they are compliant to the AMBA specification by taking advantage of the unique capabilities of Verisity's technology and the e verification language," said Francine Ferguson, vice president of corporate and strategic marketing at Verisity. "We see a critical need to promote standards and enable interoperability and this collaboration with ARM sees our joint development efforts come to fruition."

Synopsys, Inc., (Nasdaq:SNPS), working together with ARM, is the first licensee to deliver an AMBA Compliance Tool. Synopsys customers can seamlessly plug DesignWare® ACT into existing verification environments to certify compliance of AMBA technology-based designs and IP to the AMBA specification. DesignWare ACT generates the compliance certificate and enables designers to participate in the AMBA Compliance Program using the "AMBA Compliant" trademark to differentiate and promote their IP.

"As a provider of AMBA synthesizable and verification IP, we recognize the importance of providing high quality IP that adheres to the AMBA standard," said Joachim Kunkel, vice president, Marketing, Synopsys. "The DesignWare AMBA Compliance Testbench enables users to verify their designs and IP for compliance to the AMBA specification. Written in OpenVera™, the DesignWare AMBA Compliance Testbench takes full advantage of the built-in Synopsys Smart Verification technology and has been implemented to be fully functional in any verification environment."

About AMBA
The AMBA specification is an established, open standard 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 as a standard by a large part of the industry including more than 90 percent of ARM's Partners, and a large number of non-ARM IP providers. The specification has been downloaded by more than 4,000 design engineers and implemented in a great many ASIC designs.

With a wide third-party IP base and extensive EDA tool support from many of the industry's leading EDA suppliers, AMBA 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.

ARM remains totally committed to developing the long-term AMBA roadmap in close consultation with its Partners. This will help to ensure that AMBA technology-based methodologies remain at the forefront of system design.

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-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

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