ARC announces Distribution License Agreement for MQX Real Time Operating System with Freescale Semiconductor

SAN JOSE, CA., and ST. ALBANS, England -- August 31st, 2009 -- ARC International (LSE: ARK), a leading provider of consumer intellectual property (IP) to OEM and semiconductor companies worldwide, today announced that Freescale Semiconductor has licensed the MQX real-time operating system (RTOS) and TCP/IP software stacks. The license extends across Freescale’s broad portfolios of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs); 16-bit digital signal controllers (DSCs); and 32-bit microprocessors (MPUs) based on ColdFire®, Power Architecture™ and ARM® cores.

Freescale determined that by using ARC’s MQX RTOS and other networking protocol stacks, they can provide highly integrated, comprehensive software solutions that help customers reduce development cost and get to market quickly. Freescale’s decision to extend the license of MQX software for its MCU, DSC and MPU architectures demonstrates the company’s confidence in ARC’s software solutions to help them compete in a wide range of challenging markets.

MQX software has helped Freescale customers bring embedded products to market for nearly 20 years in a vast array of applications, such as smart sensors, robotics, industrial switches, motion and temperature control systems, building surveillance systems, networking products, government and defense applications, and consumer goods.

“Developers have come to rely on the benefits of using MQX Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) and other MQX software products in concert with their tools and with Freescale’s widely used processing platforms to help them keep their development projects on track and in budget,” said Harsh Kejriwal, VP Worldwide Software Sales at ARC International

“The combination of MQX software and Freescale silicon provides customers with comprehensive platform solutions for a wide range of system designs,” said Aiden Mitchell, director of industrial and multi-market MCUs at Freescale. “The availability of MQX software across Freescale’s processing portfolio gives customers enormous design flexibility. Since we offer MQX software bundled with our silicon, customers gain an exceptional software value that also helps them speed time to market and accelerate their success with proven hardware and software solutions."

ARC's MQX software platform includes MQX RTOS, an optimized TCP/IP networking stack, device drivers, RTOS-aware debugging, performance and profiling tools and a board support package for the relevant Freescale development boards.

ARC's MQX software platform integrates seamlessly with Freescale’s CodeWarrior™ Development Studio for ColdFire microcontrollers and Power Architecture technology, allowing developers to rapidly accelerate the development of reliable, high performance industrial control and networking products. CodeWarrior Development Studio provides integrated, task-aware debugging and monitoring of TCP/IP networking stack objects.
       
About ARC International plc

ARC International is a world-leading provider of consumer IP to OEM and semiconductor companies globally. ARC’s award-winning, vertically integrated audio and video solutions enable high quality multimedia content to be captured, shared, and played on a wide range of electronics devices. ARC’s 160+ customers collectively ship hundreds of millions of ARC-Based™ chips annually in products such as PCs and laptops, digital and mobile TVs, portable media players, flash storage, digital cameras, network appliances, as well as in medical and government systems. ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate and research and development offices in San Jose and Lake Tahoe, Calif., St. Petersburg, Russia, and Hyderabad, India.
For more information visit www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE: ARK).