New ARM Processor Technology Gains MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition Support

SUNNYVALE, Calif., and CAMBRIDGE, UK Mar. 29, 2004 - MontaVista Software Inc., the company powering the embedded revolution, and ARM [(LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq:ARMHY)], the industry’s leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, today announced at ElectronicaUSA/Embedded Systems Conference, San Francisco, that MontaVista® Linux® Consumer Electronics Edition will support the ARM1136J-S™ and ARM1136JF-S™ processor cores, developed for use in networking, consumer and automotive infotainment applications.

“Because of its flexibility and ease of use, Linux is becoming a popular choice for application developers of today’s pervasive Internet-connected and wireless consumer devices,” said Mary Inglis, director, Software and Alliances, ARM. “Now, developers can leverage MontaVista Linux, with its special enhancements for consumer electronics, to build upon the high performance, integration and power-efficiency of our ARM11™ technology.”

MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition (CEE) is a popular Linux operating system and cross-development environment specifically designed for consumer electronics applications such as mobile phones, digital televisions, set-top boxes and automotive telematics. CEE is tailored to the demands of highly constrained mobile devices, which require low power consumption, restricted memory size and short boot and resume times. CEE enhances Linux with dynamic power management , support for direct execution from flash memory, a protected RAM file system, consumer-grade reliability and a complete development solution including system analysis tools for performance tuning.

“The ARM11 microarchitecture provides an ideal hardware platform for MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition (CEE), especially for target applications in the consumer electronics, networking, wireless, and automotive market segments,” said Kevin Morgan, VP Engineering, MontaVista Software. “Now, MontaVista and ARM are offering a validated development platform for embedded devices, which can help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) significantly reduce design complexity and speed time-to-market for their next-generation of highly differentiated products.”

CEE has been ported to the ARM1136J-S and ARM1136JF-S microprocessor cores on an ARM11 microarchitecture development platform and evaluation board. MontaVista Linux also supports ARM core-based processors from Intel, Motorola, Texas Instruments and others. More information is available at http://www.mvista.com/cee

A demonstration of this technology can be seen on the ARM stand, number 1825, South Hall, Moscone Center, showing the integration of the ARM Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM) prediction software with the MontaVista DPM framework, running on a Texas Instruments OMAP™ Innovator development platform using the MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition.

Availability
Support for the ARM11 microarchitecture-based cores will be available in the second half of 2004 direct from MontaVista and their distribution channels worldwide. MontaVista Linux is offered as a product subscription, providing customers with the MontaVista Linux kernel, utilities, development tools, software updates, deployment components, access to the MontaVista Zone (customer resource portal), comprehensive technical support and hands-on Linux technology training classes.

The ARM1136J-S and ARM1136JF-S processor cores are available now from ARM. For more information about this technology, visit http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/.

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, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

About MontaVista Software
MontaVista Software is a leading global supplier of systems software and development tools for intelligent connected devices and associated infrastructure. MontaVista powers the embedded revolution by providing Open Source GNU/Linux-based software solutions. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system pioneer James Ready, MontaVista offers a family of products that address software developer needs encompassing applications ranging from communications infrastructure to consumer electronics. MontaVista products include MontaVista Linux Professional, Consumer Electronics and Carrier Grade Editions. MontaVista DevRocket, a powerful integrated development environment, delivers state-of-the-art development tools across all the product Editions. MontaVista Graphics offers a rich GUI development tools platform.

Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, US Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co., IBM, Intel Capital, Sony, Panasonic (Matsushita), Toshiba America and Yamaha Corporation.

ENDS

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited.  ARM11, ARM1136J-S and ARM1136JF-S are 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.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a registered trademark of MontaVista Software, Inc.