HK Science and Technology Parks Licenses ARM CPU

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Mar. 17, 2004 – ARM  [LSE: ARM; Nasdaq: ARMHY], the industry’s leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, today announced that Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has licensed the industry-leading ARM7TDMI® core for use by new, young companies, and other local fabless companies, through its IC Design and Development Support Center.

The HK IC Design and Development Support Center provides a one-stop service to companies engaged in integrated circuit design. Under the ‘7+1’ MOU recently signed between the PRC Ministry of Science & Technology and HKSTP, the Center supports fabless IC companies in Hong Kong and mainland China, through the entire IC product development cycle from initial design to MPW (multi-project wafer) release, offering shared low-cost access to the Center’s computing infrastructure, EDA tools, licensed technologies and test labs.

“ARM and the HK IC Design Center will work together to provide an advanced system-on-chip (SoC) platform for designers making use of the Center’s support services,” said Jun Tan, president of ARM China. “This is a further demonstration of ARM’s commitment to advance the semiconductor industry in Greater China by enabling shared access to our technology for smaller fabless companies, particularly those in the early stages.”

The Hong Kong IC Design Center is the second ARM® incubator Partner in Greater China, following last year’s partnership with the Shanghai Research Center for IC Design.

“System-on-chip ICs are core elements of a wide range of electronics products manufactured in China, including set-top boxes, wireless products and PDAs,” said S.W. Cheung, vice president of business development and technology support at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. “With the help of ARM, we are now able to offer immediate access to a leading-edge solution that will improve the quality of our clients’ designs and speed time-to-market for their products.”

Availability
The ARM7TDMI core-based SoC platform is available now for licensing through the IC Design and Development Support Center of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

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

ENDS

ARM and ARM7TDMI are registered trademarks of ARM Limited.  “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; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co.Ltd.; and ARM Belgium N.V.