ARC International's ARCsound Audio Subsystem Approved by Dolby Laboratories and Microsoft

ELSTREE, UK. February 1, 2005 – ARC International (LSE: ARK), the world leader in configurable CPU/DSP processor cores and application platforms, today announced that Microsoft Corporation and Dolby Laboratories have each separately approved the ARCsound™ audio subsystem for Microsoft Windows Media Audio decoder and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital consumer decoder technology, respectively. Already shipping to customers, the ARCsound audio subsystem enables system OEMs and semiconductor companies to get to market quickly with an optimized, preconfigured audio platform that eliminates the need for specialized hardware.

"We are very pleased with the tremendous industry response we have to the ARCsound subsystem," said Derek Meyer, vice president of marketing for ARC. "The ARCsound subsystem is one of many ways ARC International is helping customers quickly deploy optimized products for high-growth consumer applications. This key support of Windows Media Audio and Dolby Digital consumer decode illustrate ARC's commitment to provide a pre-verified, comprehensive audio platform that enables our customers with fast time-to-market and less risk."

The ARCsound audio subsystem is a preconfigured, licensable audio platform for use in high volume SoC designs. ARCsound includes state-of-the-art audio codec software, a preconfigured ARC processor with custom audio extensions and a full suite of hardware and software development tools. ARCsound meets stringent quality requirements for cost-sensitive, high-volume markets. A typical ARCsound configuration requires as few as 75,000 gates and consumes as much as 55 percent less system power than comparable solutions.

The ARCsound subsystem's optimized audio software supports a number of codecs, including:

MPEG 1, 2 Layer I, II, III (MP3) Decode

MPEG 1, 2 Layer I, II, III (MP3) Encode

MPEG 2, 4 AAC LC Decode

MPEG 2, 4 AAC LC Encode

Windows Media Audio 9.0 Decode

Dolby Digital Consumer Decode

Availability

The ARCsound audio subsystem is available now from ARC International. For additional information on ARCsound, visit www.arc.com/ARCsound.

About ARC

ARC International is a world leader in low-power, high-performance 32-bit configurable CPU/DSP processor cores, subsystems, real-time operating systems and development tools for embedded system design. ARC's configurable and extendible cores assist customers in the development of next generation digital media, consumer and communications devices, resulting in lower cost, higher performance SoC products.

ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate offices in San Jose, California, USA and Elstree, UK. 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).

ARC, ARCsound, the ARC logo and ARC-Based are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARC International. All other brands or product names contained herein are the property of their respective owners. This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For factors that could cause actual results to differ, visit the company's Website as well as the listing particulars filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales.