IKOS' VLE Emulator for verifying multiple operating systems for MIPS Technologies 64-Bit processor Core

IKOS' VLE EMULATOR USED FOR VERIFYING MULTIPLE OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR MIPS TECHNOLOGIES 64-BIT PROCESSOR CORE

--Industry's Leading Emulation Technology Helps in Achieving Right-the-First-Time Silicon to Reduce Overall Project Cost and Time-to-Market--

CUPERTINO, Calif., July 24, 2000--IKOS Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: IKOS), a leading provider of design verification solutions today announced that IKOS' VLE emulation technology was utilized by MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:MIPS, MIPSB), a leading provider of industry standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications to verify multiple operating systems for the MIPS64 5Kc(tm) 64-bit processor core. The MIPS64 5Kc is an embedded core for compute intensive applications for a variety of end products including set-top boxes, multimedia devices, game consoles, communication devices, and network systems. IKOS' VLE-5M emulator was used to verify multiple operating system compliance for the 200K gate processor core. Through the use of IKOS' technology, MIPS Technologies was able to achieve right-the-first-time silicon and reduce overall project cost and time-to-market.

Brian Knowles, vice president of marketing at MIPS Technologies noted, "Our customers want to choose an operating system (OS) best suited for their application when they utilize our processor cores. But we need to be able to validate the compliance of those OSs, in this instance Windows CE and Linux, before our customers begin their product development processes."

Ramon Nuñez, president and CEO for IKOS Systems noted, "MIPS Technologies' utilization of the IKOS VLE-5M emulation technology once again validates the strength of our inherent patented technology and further demonstrates the enormous market applicability of our emulator solutions. MIPS processor technology is widely used in the development of Internet appliances and other communications devices that are represented by market segments that are experiencing explosive growth. IKOS is pleased to play a mission critical role in the development of the fundamental technology that addresses the internet, communications and consumer product markets."

Larry Melling, vice president of strategic marketing and business development for IKOS Systems explained, "Increasingly complex technology, in the form of processor cores, is being incorporated into a wide variety of applications and as this complexity curve rises, the need to verify the functionality of these processor cores scales exponentially. Because these cores are used for so many different internet, communication and consumer product applications, any core that does not work as specified results in major market and economic ramifications across a wide spectrum of product segments."

"As a result of the foregoing market drivers, we believe that the need for emulating the processor cores that are the 'heart' of the various devices that comprise these markets will continue to grow at an ever increasing rate," Melling added. "Our ability to work with MIPS Technologies and verify key functionality of their core demonstrates the applicability of pre-silicon emulation for developing widely diverse, rapidly evolving products."

Ed Forbes, director of third-party relations at MIPS Technologies declared, "We chose IKOS as a partner for this project based on a convincing demonstration of technological capability as well as past good experience with the company in terms of both product quality and technical support. For this particular project, Windows CE far exceeded what could be simulated in an ordinary software simulator, so emulating the OS on hardware was the only way we could verify that the OS would work with the processor core. The design of the processor (200K gates) was too large to fit even the largest FPGA available on the market and the design could not be easily partitioned across a number of FPGAs. However, the design fit readily into the IKOS emulator."

Through the utilization of the IKOS VLE-5M, the MIPS Technologies design team found four critical design errors and reduced time-to-market by four weeks. The task of getting Windows CE up and running on the VLE-5M was split into two phases and the emulation process was begun before actual design verification was initiated. For the first phase, Windows CE was booted on the processor without the cache subsystem. This resulted in locating one software challenge in the OS and one bug in the design. Next, Windows CE was booted on the whole processor including the cache subsystem. After Windows CE was successfully booted, the Linux OS was booted on the design which resulted in locating three additional bugs.

Concluded Forbes, "The main value of the IKOS emulator for this project has been to prove Windows CE compatibility on the hardware before we had actual silicon. This increased our probability of achieving right-the-first-time silicon thereby reducing overall project cost as well as project time."

VLE-5M PRODUCT FEATURES
IKOS' VLE-5M provides a high-performance (power), high-capacity emulation capability in a relatively small form factor (2' x 2' x 1') and operates on 120 V power without special environmental facilities. The system provides a very easy interface to customers' target environments. Further, the patented VirtualWires compilation technology incorporated in VLE-5M automates many of the tasks that make emulation use much easier. Typical emulation speeds of a megahertz and the ability to recompile netlist changes in less than two hours gives users a very powerful verification environment. The IKOS 100% visibility model gives users a very robust debug facility without sacrificing emulation speed. With its unique technology, IKOS is able to deliver the industry's lowest emulation prices. The basic cost of the system starts at $0.37/ASIC gate. Overall emulation capacity is 4.5 million ASIC gates plus 48 MB of memory. This low cost is combined with the ease of use, no specialized facilities and fast compile times of VLE. With this cost-performance ratio, users can achieve double the emulation capacity over previously offered emulation solutions.

ABOUT IKOS
IKOS Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: IKOS) is a technology leader in high-performance design verification solutions, including hardware and software simulation for language-based design, logic emulation for system integration and compatibility verification, and verification services. The company's mission is to help customers realize their high-complexity electronic systems through innovative design verification solutions. IKOS has direct sales operation in North America, UK, France, Germany, Japan, and India and a distribution network throughout Asia-Pacific and Israel. The corporate headquarters is located at 19050 Pruneridge Ave., Cupertino, Calif., 95014, (408) 255-4567. For more information, visit http://www.ikos.com . IKOS and VirtuaLogic are trademarks of IKOS Systems. MIPS is a registered trademark and MIPS-based and MIPS64 5Kc are trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc. All other brand or product names may be trademark or registered trademarks of their respective companies and should be treated as such.