Interconnect IP Leader Sonics Introduces SiliconBackplane III SMART Interconnect IP for Multimedia SOCs

Mountain View, Calif. - September 22, 2003 - Sonics, Inc., a leading provider of SOC (system-on-chip) architectures and SMART Interconnect IP products, today announced the immediate availability of the next generation Sonics’ SiliconBackplane™ III MicroNetwork. The new SiliconBackplane III IP product provides innovative features that significantly improve interconnect performance and simplify development of advanced multimedia SOCs. Sonics is also introducing Sonics Studio™ a comprehensive suite of SOC integration, IP configuration, logic verification tools and utilities.

SiliconBackplane III MicroNetwork includes new mechanisms to manage more effectively the high frame rate video, 3D graphics, and 2D still image data streams found in multimedia applications. The performance of multimedia SOCs depends on efficiently streaming large amounts of variable data through the device and to and from its single external DRAM memory. SiliconBackplane III concurrently handles multiple asymmetrical and variable length data flows at the maximum throughput of the memory channel with an aggregate bandwidth of up to 4 Gigabyte/second. Configurable levels of QoS (quality of service) enable tailoring of data channel characteristics to meet application-specific performance requirements. A new 2D block transaction feature accelerates memory access to fundamental data structures used in video and graphics applications. As a result of these new features SiliconBackplane III delivers a sustained level of 90 percent interconnect utilization in the extremely demanding traffic conditions created by multiple image-based data flows between the multimedia SOC and its memory subsystem.

The new SiliconBackplane III SMART Interconnect IP is fully compatible with Sonics’ Synapse™ 3220 SMART Peripheral Interconnect IP and Sonics’ MemMax™ Memory Scheduler IP. Previous generations of Sonics’ SiliconBackplane are currently deployed in advanced SOC devices shipping in volumes of millions of units per month.

“This major new generation reinforces SiliconBackplane’s position as the leading multimedia SOC interconnect IP,” said Grant Pierce, president and CEO of Sonics. “Our leadership in multimedia applications is already established through relationships with Toshiba, Samsung and others, and this new IP will keep Sonics in the forefront of one of the highest volume SOC markets.”

“We see Sonics as an important partner as we develop next generation multimedia SOCs,” said Mr. Toshinori Moriyasu, corporate vice president and executive vice president of Semiconductor Company, Toshiba Corporation. “The new performance enhancements in SiliconBackplane III will enable us to produce even higher performance devices utilizing the proven SiliconBackplane IP product in our advanced 90-nanometer and 65-nanometer fabrication facilities.”

“Sonics’ SiliconBackplane goes well beyond simple buses; it provides an on-chip network or crossbar fabric for all the other IP on a complex chip,” says Jim Turley, chief analyst for Silicon-Insider. “Media and consumer-video chips, for example, have to move multiple streams of data from place to place at high speed. SiliconBackplane is well suited to maintain all that bandwidth, with MPEG video going here, DSP streams going there, and so on. Just as important, these chips are difficult to design and SiliconBackplane provides the “glue” to hold it all together and make it manageable.”

Sonics SiliconBackplane III SMART Interconnect IP enables SOC design teams to develop complex designs faster with less risk. SiliconBackplane connects complex IP blocks such as microprocessors, DSPs, hardware accelerators such as MPEG, DMA or packet processors with any other IP block with a high degree of silicon efficiency and high data throughput.

Pricing and Availability
SiliconBackplane III SMART Interconnect IP is configurable, pre-verified interconnect IP. A single use IP license is priced from $240,000 (USD) depending upon configuration and is available now.

Sonics Studio is a development environment that unifies SOC integration phases through different levels of abstraction from architectural exploration to physical implementation. It includes behavioral simulation models, command line and graphical tools and utilities. It is available for license immediately and is priced from $18,000 (USD).

About Sonics, Inc.
Sonics, Inc. is a leading provider of SOC architectures and SMART Interconnect Intellectual Property (IP) that accelerate the development of complex SOCs, reduce development costs and increase the reusability of IP. Major semiconductor and systems companies including Broadcom, Samsung, Texas Instruments and Toshiba have applied Sonics architectures, IP products and methodologies in SOCs used in leading products in the wireless, digital consumer and communications markets. Sonics customers have experienced dramatic reduction in time to market, from years to months, while enjoying savings in design and manufacturing costs. Sonics is a privately held company funded by Investar Capital, Smart Technology Ventures, TL Ventures, Easton Hunt Capital, JAFCO Ventures, and H&Q Asia-Pacific. For more information, see www.sonicsinc.com.

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SiliconBackplane, Synapse, MemMax and Sonics Studio are trademarks of Sonics, Inc.