ARM Strengthens Commitment To Taiwan Through Expanded Relationship With CIC

CIC licenses advanced ARM processors and modeling tools to equip engineering students in universities throughout Taiwan

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Nov. 30, 2006 - ARM [(LSE:ARM)]; (Nasdaq:ARMHY)] today announced at the ARM® Connected Community Technical Symposium, Taipei, that the National Chip Implementation Center (CIC), an organization that promotes IC design and innovation in Taiwan, has licensed the ARM7TDMI® processor, the ARM926EJ-S™ processor, the RealView® CREATE family of ESL tools and the ARM RealView Development Suite 3.0. The license agreement, which includes the SoC Designer and Core Generator electronic system level (ESL) tools, will enable hundreds of engineering students working with the ARM architecture across Taiwan to access the RealView tools solution, which provides system design and software tools that span initial architecture optimization through to cycle accurate simulation of the final system design.

CIC will deliver the ARM7TDMI and the ARM926EJ-S processors and tools portfolio to universities across Taiwan, enabling students to learn the intricacies of SoC design and optimization in the laboratory, encouraging innovation by student engineers and giving them a valuable head start in the electronics industry. Furthermore, the RealView Development Suite and the SoC Designer tool enable early OS porting and hardware/software integration, long before target silicon is available, making the tools environment ideal for the learning laboratory.

“Innovation in IC design is central to Taiwan’s reputation as an industry leader. Companies such as MediaTek, Realtek Semiconductor, Sunplus Technology and Via Technologies are among the world’s top 20 IC design houses, and to maintain this position, they are continually seeking the best and brightest engineering graduates,” said Jing-Yang Jou, director general, CIC. “The ARM7TDMI and ARM926EJ-S processors, used in combination with the ARM tools portfolio, will ensure that a consistent crop of high-quality graduates emerge from university, already well versed in the tools of the trade. By training the next generation of Taiwan’s engineers to design using ARM processors and tools, we are safeguarding and strengthening future IC initiatives.”

CIC has already begun hosting SoC Designer training courses to encourage use of the newly-licensed ARM processors and ESL technology.

“Building on its status as a hub of the global foundry industry, Taiwan is also emerging as a semiconductor and IC design market in itself. Since 1992, CIC has been driving this growth,” said Tudor Brown, chief operating officer, ARM at the Taipei ARM symposium. “By working with CIC to equip university students with ARM processors and the latest ESL tools, we are enabling the Taiwan IC market to continue to grow organically using home-grown engineering talent.”

Technical information

The ARM7TDMI 32-bit embedded RISC processor is optimized to provide the best combination of performance, power and area characteristics. The processor enables system designers to build embedded devices requiring small size, low power and high performance. The ARM926EJ-S processor is fully synthesizable, and features a Jazelle Java acceleration technology-enhanced 32-bit RISC CPU, flexible size instruction and data caches, tightly coupled memory interfaces and a memory management unit. The ARM926EJ-S processor is optimized for use in mobile phones, platform OS-based devices, multimedia, automotive applications and digital still cameras.

The RealView CREATE and DEVELOP families provide the only complete, end-to-end solution for efficient system optimization and software development that supports all ARM processors and ARM debug technology. Enabling improved software quality through cycle accurate and functionally accurate virtual prototyping, and servicing all major market segments, the RealView ESL portfolio provides flexible software tools to meet changing requirements. The RealView ESL tools portfolio includes support for all ARM processors, including the Cortex™, ARM11™, ARM9™ and ARM7™ families.

Availability

The ARM7TDMI and ARM926EJ-S processors, the RealView Development Suite and the extensive range of ARM ESL tools are available for licensing today. For more information, please visit http://www.arm.com/products/.

About ARM

ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging applications. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.