Artisan Components’ Memories And iRoC’s M-RoCKIT Platform Enable Building Of Soft Error Free Memories

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif.,-- March 03, 2003 -- Artisan Components, Inc., (Nasdaq: ARTI), a leading provider of physical intellectual property (IP) and iRoC Technologies Corporation, a leader in the field of Infrastructure IP, today announced that iRoC has added support for Artisan's Process Perfect™ Memory Generators to its M-RoCKIT™ platform. The M-RoCKIT platform makes it possible for users of Artisan's memory generator to achieve higher reliability and data security by quickly designing in state-of-the-art error correction code (ECC) that lowers the cost in terms of area, power and time penalty.

"Soft errors are a critical reliability issue that must be considered for deep sub-micron SoCs with embedded memory," said Dhrumil Gandhi, senior vice president of product technology at Artisan Components. "Integrating Artisan's memory generators with iRoC's M-RoCKIT platform provides a robust, easy to use solution that allows our mutual customers to build hardened memory subsystems." Artisan's memory generator products fully automate the development of simulation and artwork views for single- and dual-port SRAMs and single- and two-port register files that are embedded in SoC designs. Using either a Graphical User Interface or Command line, users can specify the details of required memory instances. Simulation and artwork views are generated quickly and can be easily integrated into their SoC design. The generators have a wide range of optional features, such as maskable word width and redundancy, to meet the broadest set of customer needs.

iRoC's M-RoCKIT product fully automates the process of generating protected memories. Offering a wide range of architectures, the tool allows designers to easily pick and choose the right compromise depending on the memory considered and the performance constraints desired. The generation of the protected memory is then completed in a matter of seconds, not weeks. Because M-RoCKIT is tightly integrated with Artisan's memory generators, designers can let the tool guide them through the generation process and thereby efficiently choose the optimal solution while saving time and cost within the design process.

Furthermore, M-RoCKIT's patented architectures provide designers with innovative solutions for efficiently protecting memories while maintaining an acceptable time, area and power penalty. For memories with maskable operations, M-RoCKIT offers code sharing error correction architectures that saves up to 10x in silicon overhead and 2x in power consumption. For high- speed memories, RoCKIT offers advanced concurrent error correction mechanisms with no speed penalty.

"Bit flips caused by soft errors in embedded memories must be overcome in 130- and 90- nanometers for SoC designs to achieve successful silicon results," said Eric Dupont, president and chief executive officer of iRoC Technologies. "This integrated solution combines the core competencies of both companies to provide customers with a viable and quality turnkey solution that enables the building of soft error free memories."

Product Availability
Information about iRoC's M-RoCKIT platform is available today on iRoC's website at www.iroctech.com.
The M-RoCKIT platform is available immediately for selected customers and alliance partners. Final product pricing and delivery will be available in the second quarter of 2003. The M-RoCKIT solution requires Artisan memory generators, which are available for a wide selection of process technologies on Artisan's website at www.artisan.com.

About iRoC Technologies
iRoC Technologies develops and licenses design and test solutions to enhance the security, quality and reliability of nanometer integrated circuits. iRoC's turnkey solutions include technology process characterization, radiation test services and Semiconductor Infrastructure IP generators for SoC robustness and quality. More information on the company's products and services can be obtained at www.iroctech.com.

About Artisan Components, Inc.
Artisan Components, Inc. is a leading provider of physical intellectual property (IP) components for the design and manufacture of complex system-on-a-chip integrated circuits. Artisan's products include embedded memory, standard cell, input/output, analog, mixed-signal and communications components, which are designed to achieve the best combination of performance, density, power and yield for a given manufacturing process. Artisan has licensed its IP components to over 1,000 companies involved in integrated circuit design. Artisan is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. More information about Artisan Components, including free library access can be found at: http://www.artisan.com.

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iRoC Technologies and M-RoCKIT are registered trademarks of iRoC Technologies Corporation. Artisan Components, Artisan and Process-Perfect are registered trademarks of Artisan Components, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.