Transdimension announces acquisition of peripheral connectivity property and product portfolio from ARC International

IRVINE, Calif., July 1, 2004 - TransDimension, a leading provider of USB connectivity solutions for embedded applications, today announced that it has acquired ARC International's Peripheral Connectivity assets including the ARC USB and Ethernet IP cores, CertiPHY capability and USB system support and development tools. This acquisition expands TransDimension's market leading USB software, semiconductor and IP capability with additional high speed USB cores. TransDimension will continue to market these products as IP cores as well as leverage the capability into its semiconductor products.

As a result of the acquisition, TransDimension has established a design center in Nashua, N.H., and has hired the key personnel formerly responsible for building ARC's USB business.

"ARC's USB high speed embedded host and high speed On-The-Go (OTG) IP cores have achieved significant market acceptance and demonstrated best-in-class performance," said Rick Goerner, TransDimension president and CEO. "Combining these IP products and the capabilities of the Nashua team with TransDimension's USB software, semiconductor, and IP cores, allows us to greatly expand our product offering, semiconductor roadmap and present a more complete USB solution to our customer-base."

"This transaction advances ARC International's strategy by strengthening our focus on configurable processor IP cores while still providing our ARC core processor customers with access to this world class USB capability," said Carl Schlachte, ARC International president and CEO.

TransDimension's new family of USB2.0 High Speed (USB-HS) single-port Host (SPH), and multi-port Host (MPH), OTG and Device USB-HS host controller IP cores are the market's best performing high speed USB IP cores and have already been proven in silicon by multiple customers. These cores provide a unique, low gate count architecture and allow system designers to develop compact, cost-effective USB SoCs using proven IP and verified PHY interfaces (through the CertiPHY partner program). The USB-HS SPH core delivers the industry's lowest gate count for a single-port USB-HS host controller, while the USB-HS MPH core represents the industry's first MPH controller solution for embedded USB-HS applications. All solutions support native UTMI+ and ULPI as PHY interfaces, and have been extensively tested with a multitude of PHY solutions through the CertiPHY program.

About ARC
ARC International is a world leader in low-power, high-performance 32-bit RISC/DSP user-customizable processor cores, real-time operating systems and development tools for embedded system design. ARC's configurable, extendible cores assist customers in their rapid development of next generation wireless, networking and consumer electronics systems, resulting in exceptionally competitive system-on-chip products.
ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate offices in Elstree, UK and San Jose, California, USA. The Company has research and development offices located in England and the United States. For more information please visit the ARC website at: www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE:ARK).

About TransDimension
Headquartered in Irvine, California, TransDimension is a privately held company founded in 1997 to develop and market solutions targeting peripheral connectivity. TransDimension's product lines include the integrated circuits, IP cores and USB software stacks that enable direct connectivity for a wide range of PC peripheral applications and mobile devices. Until now, these products have required an indirect means, such as a PC host, for exchanging data. TransDimension's SoftConnex USB software is a complete software solution for USB, including the broadest OS and CPU platform support and the largest library of peripheral class drivers available. More information about TransDimension can be found at http://www.transdimension.com

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