ARM Holdings plc Results For The Six Months Ended 30 June 2001

ARM Announces Development Of Open System Application Platform With Agere Systems
 

CAMBRIDGE, UK - July 23, 2001 - ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, has announced the joint development, with Agere Systems (NYSE: AGR.A), of a reusable microprocessor-based system platform for the wireless market.

Agere plans to develop communications chips based on the platform that will initially be targeted at advanced multimedia applications running on wireless handsets and other wireless handheld devices.

This highly integrated system platform is based around the ARM920T[tm] core microprocessor and is also usable with any core from the ARM9[tm] family of microprocessors. The reusable system platform uses the ARM® AMBA[tm] Multi-layer Advanced High-performance bus (AHB) and combines ARM PrimeCell® peripherals and Agere's semiconductor electronics circuitry. The result is an applications-focused solution suitable for running industry-leading operating systems (OSs) such as Palm OS, Symbian OS and Microsoft Windows CE.

This announcement signals the recognition of the advantages in developing reusable system-on-chip (SoC) solutions as "building blocks" to meet the time-to-market demands of today's business environment. Such platforms need to be supported with leading operating systems to enable development of highly differentiated devices. Consequently, a key factor of a reusable system platform strategy is the methodology that enables it to be easily extended for product customization while continuing to meet the key basic functional requirements.

"System design complexity is increasing exponentially, and is one of the key driving factors in the growth of the need for IP building blocks. The ability to meet these challenges requires new approaches to the creation of standards and advanced system methodologies," said Jamie Urquhart, chief strategy officer at ARM. "ARM has welcomed the opportunity to work with Partners such as Agere to establish open architecture platform implementations to enable our Partners to develop their own solutions."

"By developing the application platform, the two companies plan to enable wireless equipment manufacturers to deliver their products to market faster, which is key in this market," said Mike Laflin, strategic marketing manager with Agere Systems. "The manufacturers will also gain the flexibility to focus on adding differentiating, value-added features to their products by using a flexible, open architecture that is used with several different operating systems. Agere is pleased to be working with ARM to deliver these multiple and important benefits to wireless customers."

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-on-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 the volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, handheld computing, multimedia, digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com. 

ENDS

ARM and PrimeCell are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. ARM9, ARM920 and AMBA are trademarks of ARM. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and Nasdaq: ARMHY); its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM, INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan.