Mentor Graphics Announces Support for the Multi-threaded MIPS32 34K Core with the Nucleus SMP RTOS

WILSONVILLE, Ore., July 9, 2012-Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT), with its flagship Nucleus® Real Time Operating System (RTOS), today announced the Nucleus product integration and SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) support for the MIPS32 34K core that utilizes MIPS Technologies' MT (hardware Multi-Threading) technology. The combination demonstrated increased embedded application performance of over 20%, without increasing power consumption or silicon size. The Nucleus product is the industry's first RTOS to demonstrate significant performance gains using MIPS Technologies' Virtual Processing Engines (VPEs) over a single-core approach.

The balance between increased performance and power consumption for connected devices is becoming more delicate as multicore devices are deployed. Increased silicon area, heat dissipation and power usage are typical trade-offs associated with multicore devices in order to achieve performance increases. Through the combination of MIPS' multi-threaded architecture and SMP support in the Nucleus RTOS, Mentor succeeded in increasing performance by using two hardware threads, or Virtual Processing Elements (VPEs), versus a single-core approach. The performance increase of more than 20% was demonstrated using EEMBC CoreMark, a simple, yet sophisticated benchmark designed specifically to test the functionality of a processor core.

The Nucleus RTOS provided the software framework for symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) that includes load balancing, task and interrupt affinity, conditional bound computation, and full support for the multiple hardware threads on the same CPU core. The performance gains can be leveraged for a wide range of systems including mobile and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. 

"We are pleased that Mentor recognizes the advantages of multi-threading, and is supporting our multi-threading technology with its Nucleus RTOS which has widespread adoption in mobile, networking and a variety of embedded applications. Nucleus VSMP for the 34K core can enable developers to achieve significant performance efficiency benefits," said Gideon Intrater, vice president of marketing, MIPS Technologies.

"Mentor's Nucleus RTOS continues to be one of the most highly deployed in the industry due to its reliability, efficiency and power management capabilities," said Andrew Caples, Nucleus product line director, Mentor Graphics Embedded Software Division. "Together with MIPS' 34K core, Nucleus provides embedded developers with system performance gains at a much lower cost."

Used in more than 2.3 billon mobile handsets, the Mentor® Embedded Nucleus product is a proven, highly efficient, and reliable operating system. The Nucleus RTOS delivers high performance while optimizing resource usage in a single-OS or multi-OS platform. Built with a framework for high efficiency and power management, the Nucleus RTOS is ideal for memory resource-constrained devices and for systems where maximizing cycles-per-watt to conserve power is critical.

For further information on the new Nucleus-based technologies, visit the company website at www.mentor.com/nucleus.

Mentor Graphics Embedded Software Division comprises the Mentor Embedded family of products and services, including embedded software intellectual property (IP), tools, and professional consultant services to help embedded developers and silicon partners optimize their products for design and cost efficiency. The Mentor Embedded team continues to lead the industry with involvement in the open source community, with Inflexion® 2D and 3D UI development, SourceryT open source tools, and Nucleus® RTOS solutions. More information on Mentor Embedded products and services can be found at www.mentor.com/embedded.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $1,015 million. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.