Sonics Offers Low-Cost SMART Interconnects(TM) Solution; New Version of S3220(TM) Adds OCP 2.0 Support

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--May 16, 2006--Sonics Inc.®, the premier supplier of system-on-chip (SoC) SMART Interconnects(TM) solutions, today announces a new version of its S3220 SMART Interconnects solution featuring support for version 2.0 of the Open Core Protocol (OCP) standard. The new S3220 enables developers of lower complexity SoCs to take advantage of a mature, low-cost interconnect solution as an economical alternative to developing and maintaining such interconnects in-house.

Sonics' S3220 has been widely adopted for complex system-on-a-chip (SoC) products in digital consumer and wireless communications markets as an ancillary interconnect in conjunction with the SonicsMX® SMART Interconnects solution. For current SoC implementations, the S3220 offloads low to medium bandwidth input-output traffic, and register programming traffic, from the main system interconnect. Including OCP 2.0 support enables the Sonics S3220 to also support more advanced intellectual property cores, making it more attractive as the main interconnect for lower complexity SoCs.

"There are a number of high-volume markets where SoC interconnect complexity had been traditionally low but is now rising rapidly," said Phil Casini, vice president marketing, Sonics Inc. "The automotive market is a good example. New telematics are more complex than earlier solutions. And the introduction of streaming video for safety and entertainment pushes the complexities of SoCs, targeted for vehicles, even further. He continued, "Applications such as the EyeQ2(TM) processor from Mobileye Vision Technologies LTD., already utilize our flagship SonicsMX solution. By offering a low-cost S3220, we now provide a wider range of compatible SMART Interconnects solutions, that allow companies to match the interconnect solution to the level of complexity they're designing."

Like all SMART Interconnects solutions from Sonics, the S3220 is built using an advanced split-transaction, non-blocking interconnect fabric that allows latency-sensitive CPU traffic to bypass DMA-based I/O traffic, together with the ability to decouple cores to achieve high IP core reuse. In addition, the S3220 offers seamless upgradeability from low-cost to high-performance SMART interconnects solutions to support a variety of SoC-based products, and "universal" connectivity to IP cores that support AMBA and OCP standards.

Sonics also offers SonicsStudio(TM), a tool used to configure SMART Interconnects solutions to exactly match a particular SoC design. Using this tool shifts the interconnect design and verification to the architecture phase of the SoC development project, which significantly reduces development schedule risks that grow as the interconnect becomes more complex. SonicsStudio exploits the high scalability of the SMART Interconnects solutions to allow SoC developers to rapidly predict, implement, and validate the frequency, area, power, and application performance of a wide-range of potential product architectures.

About Sonics

Sonics, Inc.® is the premier supplier of SMART Interconnects( TM) solutions that deliver high SoC design predictability and increased design efficiency. Major semiconductor and systems companies including Broadcom, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and Samsung have applied Sonics' SMART Interconnects solutions in leading products in the wireless communications, digital multimedia, automotive, and office products markets. Sonics is a privately-held company funded by Cadence Design Systems, Toshiba Corp., Samsung Ventures, and venture capital firms Investar Capital, Smart Technology Ventures, TL Ventures, Easton Hunt Capital, JAFCO Ventures, and H&Q Asia-Pacific. For more information, see www.sonicsinc.com