Virage Logic's New ARC(R) Sound AS221BD Dual-Core Processor Targets Blu-ray Audio

Complete HD Sound-to-Silicon Solution Includes Blu-ray Software for Low Cost and Low Power SoCs

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Jul 27, 2010 -- Virage Logic Corporation (NASDAQ:VIRL), the semiconductor industry's trusted IP partner, today announced the new ARC Sound AS221BD dual-core processor for High Definition (HD) Audio System-on-Chips (SoCs) targeting Blu-ray Disc 7.1 channel 192kHz/24-bit output HD Audio processing applications. This new product extends Virage Logic's Sound-to-Silicon solution into HD and also includes a complete software stack with all required codecs, media streaming framework, and Blu-ray Disc use cases. The AS221BD dual-core processor, with all memories to run the full Blu-ray software stack, occupies 0.81mm2 in a 65-nanometer (nm) low power (LP) process which is as small as half the size of other alternatives. The processor is one and a half to three times more power efficient than existing solutions. The high performance AS221BD delivers 3.5 GOPS at 350MHz. Combining both hardware and software, the HD Sound-to-Silicon solution is easy to integrate, significantly reducing time-to-market and development costs for users compared to partial licensing or fully developing solutions in-house.

"The dual-core AS221BD targeting Blu-ray Disc and HD Audio SoCs is an exciting new ARC processor offering from Virage Logic," said Dr. Yankin Tanurhan, vice president and general manager, Processor, SoC Infrastructure, Application Specific IP (ASIP) and NVM Solutions business units at Virage Logic. "Blu-ray Discs and HD television broadcast are bringing HD Audio content to the consumer, and a whole new range of audio SoCs need to be built to support it. Virage Logic's fully-integrated solution enables SoC designers to bring HD Audio to next-generation chips addressing the STB, DTV, Blu-ray players/recorders, networked media servers, networked attached storage and wired/wireless audio transmission markets. We are particularly proud of the AS221BD as it is the first core developed by Virage Logic since the ARC acquisition in November 2009."

About Virage Logic's HD Sound-to-Silicon Solution

Blu-ray sets the bar for next generation audio subsystems. It requires processing of multiple streams with up to 24-bit, 7.1-channel, 192kHz, 24.5Mbits/s audio content, more than 75 times the computational complexity of CD-quality audio. The new high-performance dual-core AS221BD processor runs the worst-case use case for Blu-ray at under 300MHz, resulting in very lower power consumption. The dual-core system can operate on a much lower clock speed than a single core system. Each core comes with a dual 16x32 and 24x24 MAC, optional floating point acceleration, and support for fast synchronization.

This powerful hardware engine is supported with a broad portfolio of HD Audio software that simplifies implementation of a complete Blu-ray solution. This portfolio, developed and supported by Virage Logic, includes the following:

Primary Audio:

• Dolby Digital decoder
• Dolby Digital Plus decoder
• Dolby TrueHD decoder
• DTS Core decoder
• DTS HD MA decoder

Secondary Audio:

• Dolby Digital Plus decoder
• DTS LBR decoder

Post-processing Module:

• Mixer & Sample Rate Conversion
• Mandatory post-processing

Encoders:

• DTS Core encoder
• Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder

System Software:

• Media Streaming Framework / MQX RTOS
• Reference Use Cases

Availability

The HD Sound-to-Silicon solution, including the new AS221BD processor for Blu-ray Disc and HD Audio SoCs, is available now for licensing with delivery in September 2010. For more information, contact your local Virage Logic sales representative.

About Virage Logic

Virage Logic is a leading provider of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated circuits. The company's highly differentiated product portfolio includes processor solutions, interface IP solutions, analog solutions, SoC infrastructure IP solutions, embedded SRAMs and NVMs, embedded test and yield optimization solutions, logic libraries, and memory development software. As the semiconductor industry's trusted IP partner, more than 400 foundry, IDM and fabless customers rely on Virage Logic to achieve higher performance, lower power, higher density and optimal yield, as well as shorten time-to-market and time-to-volume. For further information, visit http://www.viragelogic.com.