ARC licenses technology to QLogic Corporation, a market leader in chips for data storage networks

ARC licenses technology to QLogic Corporation, a market leader in chips for data storage networks

Elstree, England, 31 July 2001 -ARC International plc (LSE: ARK), trading through its subsidiaries as ARC Cores, has announced today that QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC), has licensed ARC?s industry-leading, user-customizable processor technology for a new generation of storage area network infrastructure components. ARC was chosen to provide the new embedded processor in QLogic?s devices, with the first implementation in its future iSCSI (internet SCSI) technology products.

QLogic addresses a market need for faster data access between companies? network servers, workstations and data storage devices, especially in the light of the astronomical growth of data usage by large corporations and on the Internet. Its controller chips are built directly into system motherboards, as well as storage devices, such as disk drives, redundant array of disks (RAID) devices, tape drives and tape libraries. The company also produces host adapter boards that plug into computer systems and storage subsystems, and develops the world?s most innovative storage area network (SAN) switch and switch management products.

Jerry Alston, vice president of engineering at QLogic, said, ?We have had our own embedded processor for the past ten years. When we reviewed requirements for our next generation products, we selected the ARCtangent-A4 for our product line because of its small size, speed, and the development tools available with the processor.?

The first developments to use ARC?s processor will be QLogic?s iSCSI line of products. The QLogic iSCSI engineering team is currently developing this technology for use in adapters and storage controllers to enable a new generation of Ethernet SANs. QLogic's iSCSI solution will include innovative, hardware-based TCP/IP acceleration for high performance SAN implementations in Ethernet-based storage architectures.

Bob Terwilliger, president and CEO of ARC, said, ?We are extremely pleased that QLogic selected ARC?s processor for its new products. ARC has achieved many successful design wins and enjoys wide application in the network processor market. The real strength of our technology is not just its configurable aspect, but in the ability of our total package of tools and peripheral intellectual property to quickly match our processor to their project requirements. This enables our customers to differentiate their products from those of their competitors at both the hardware and software level.?

Editor?s notes

According to a Gartner Dataquest report entitled ?Semiconductors in the SAN landscape? published in April 2001, ?QLogic is the leader in unit shipments of Fibre Channel protocol controller chips (including hard drive controllers). See press release ?QLogic Leads Market in End-to-End Fibre Channel? issued May1, 2001 at http://www.qlogic.com
iSCSI technology (internet SCSI) enables Ethernet and/or TCP/IP-based SANs, to expand storage area networking to a broader variety of networking markets.
Gartner Dataquest forecasts the total external storage market to grow to US$50.3 billion by 2004 with more than 80 percent of that storage being implemented in SANs.

About QLogic

QLogic Corporation (Nasdaq:QLGC - news) is changing the way the world views Storage Area Networks (SANs), serving OEMs, VARs and system integrators with the only end-to-end SAN infrastructure in the industry. With over 15 years of enterprise storage experience, the company delivers a full range of Fibre Channel switches, PCI host bus adapters, controller silicon and management chips for systems and peripherals, as well as the QLogic Management Suite of SAN management software solutions. A member of the S&P 500 Index, QLogic was ranked fourth on Forbes' Best 200 Small Companies and number 22 on Fortune's 100 Fastest Growing Companies. QLogic is integrated in over 200 OEM solutions, including: AMI, Compaq, Computer Associates, DataCore, Dell, EMC, FalconStor, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, INRANGE, Iwill, MTI Technology Corp., Quantum, Raidtec, Siemens, Sony, Sun, Unisys, VERITAS and XIOtech. For more information about QLogic and its products, contact QLogic Corp., 26600 Laguna Hills Drive, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; telephone: 800/662-4471 (sales); 949/389-6000 (corporate); fax: 949/389-6126; home page http://www.qlogic.com

Disclaimer - forward looking statements

With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company wishes to advise readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include new and changing technologies and customer acceptance of those technologies; a change in semiconductor foundry capacity or conditions; fluctuations in the growth of I/O markets; fluctuations or cancellations in orders from OEM customers; the Company's ability to compete effectively with other companies; cancellation of OEM products associated with design wins; and reductions in the need for space and increased costs of operations due to facility relocation. Carrying additional expansion space may increase costs and adversely impact future earnings. These and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are also discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Form S-3, Form 10-K, and Form 10-Q.

About ARC International

ARC International plc is a leading developer of customizable, high-performance microprocessor cores, including ARCtangent?, and related intellectual property technology enabling designers to reduce time to market for their system-on-a-chip products. Over 50 customers use ARC?s technology, including: Austria Mikro Systeme, BrightCom, Conexant Systems, Cypress Semiconductor, Fujitsu Microelectronics, IBM, Infineon Technologies, QLogic, SanDisk, Texas Instruments and VTech Communications. Products available based on ARC?s technology include digital still cameras, set-top boxes, and network processors.

MetaWare Inc., Precise Software Technologies Inc. and VAutomation Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of ARC International, providing software development tools, hardware and software intellectual property and real-time operating systems for an integrated approach to system on a chip development. ARC?s third party partners include Cadence, Flextronics, Intrinsix, Synopsys, TSMC, UMC, Wind River and Xilinx.

With headquarters in Elstree, England, ARC International plc and its group companies employ approximately 300 people in research and development, sales, and marketing offices across North America, Europe and Israel. ARC International plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:ARK). The company?s website is located at http://www.arccores.com

Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, among others, market acceptance of the ARC technology; fluctuations in and unpredictability of the Company?s quarterly results; general economic and business conditions; regulatory policies adopted by governmental authorities; assumptions regarding the Company?s future business strategy; changes in technology; competition; ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; risks associated with the Company?s international operations; and other uncertainties that are discussed in the ?Investment Considerations? section of the Company?s listing particulars dated 28 September 2000 filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales.

ARC International (UK) Ltd. and ARC Cores, Inc., both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of ARC International plc, trade under the name of ARC Cores. ARC Cores, ARCtangent and ARCangel are trademarks of ARC International (UK) Ltd. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.