Virtio and Mentor Graphics Offer Virtual Platforms for Software Development Through The Embedded Technology Adoption Program

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2001--Embedded Systems Conference Boston--Building upon the success of the Embedded Technology Adoption Program (ETAP), Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) today announced the addition of its fifth member, Virtio Corporation.

As an ETAP member, Virtio is utilizing the Mentor Graphics® XRAY® Debugger technology with its Malta Virtual Platform for the development of MIPS-based System-on-Chip designs.

Virtio's entry into ETAP expands their existing partnership with Mentor's Embedded Software Division. Through the integration of XRAY and Virtio's virtual platforms, a new robust software-based development environment is made available to embedded software developers. In addition, developers can evaluate and ``test drive'' this environment on the web. With XRAY integrated into the Malta Virtual Platform, MIPS developers can gain insight into and control of the development environment and thereby integrate hardware/software more efficiently.

``Mentor's Embedded Technology Adoption Program was designed to appeal across the spectrum of the embedded systems industry,'' said Robert Day, director of marketing of Mentor Graphics Embedded Software Division. ``The combination of the XRAY Debugger and Virtio's Virtual Platform offers software developers new opportunities to test their production code in the early stages of the embedded development cycle with better control and visibility of both hardware and software.''

``Software developer response to the integration of the Mentor Graphics XRAY Debugger and Virtio's virtual platform has been very positive,'' said Larry Melling, vice president of marketing for Virtio Corporation. ``Working in an environment with complete control and visibility of the hardware and software is making the job of embedded development faster and easier. By joining Mentor's ETAP, we will only continue to extend our development capabilities, providing our mutual customers with quality platform solutions and complete visibility into both hardware and software functionality.''

About the Embedded Technology Adoption Program

In addition to Virtio, Mentor's ETAP includes several other prominent companies within the industry, including ARM Ltd., Philips Semiconductors, OSE Systems and Siroyan Ltd. ETAP was launched in June 2001. Through ETAP, Mentor Graphics provides semiconductor and IP vendors with access to its market-leading embedded software technology, including its XRAY Debugger, VRTX® RTOS and Microtec® Compilers. Companies can license the technologies and build customized development environments tailored for their applications, without incurring the resource expense of tackling the development task with an internal tools team. For more information on the Mentor Graphics Embedded Technology Adoption Program, please visit www.mentor.com/etap.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of more than $600 million and employs approximately 2,975 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Mentor Graphics, Microtec, VRTX and XRAY are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact:
     Mentor Graphics Corporation
     Stephanie van Blommestein, 408/487-7392
     stephanie_vanblommestein@mentor.com
       or
     Benjamin Group/BSMG Worldwide
     Jason Khoury, 415/352-2628, ext. 172
     jkhoury@bsmg.com