New Floating Point Extensions for ARC Cores Enable Full Performance Math Functionality Without a Coprocessor

ARC FPX Extensions Set New Standard For Die Size Efficiency and Low Power

SAN JOSE, Calif., Spring Processor Forum, May 16, 2005 - ARC International (LSE: ARK) today announced new Floating Point Extensions (FPX) for the ARC™600 and ARC™ 700 processor core families. By implementing IEEE 754-compliant floating point functionality using the extendibility feature of ARC's patented configurability, ARC can achieve up to 90 percent reduction in gate count compared to competitors floating point coprocessors with comparable performance.

ARC FPX extensions provide direct execution in hardware of the most frequently used floating point functions, which greatly accelerates computations requiring high math precision. Applications that using floating point processing include graphics, image processing, printers, GPS, automotive controls and instrumentation. ARC FPX has already has been licensed by an ARC customer for use in a data input device.

Traditional approaches to hardware floating point processing require a coprocessor to execute instructions in accordance with the IEEE-754 standard. The resulting designs are complex and consume additional silicon area - in some cases even more than the host CPU. ARC's FPX solution uses hardware extensions to accelerate the proven IEEE-754 compliant ARC MetaWare® math library.

ARC FPX extensions achieve near coprocessor performance with much smaller die area and power consumption. The most frequently used floating point instructions, including addition, subtraction and multiplication, are implemented in hardware; the other elements of the IEEE specification are implemented in software.

ARC FPX also provides configuration flexibility that is not available with coprocessors. Using the ARChitect configurator tool, SoC designers can easily select which extensions to include in their chip design: single precision only, double precision only, or both. In addition, users who wish to further accelerate their code can use ARC's extendible architecture and EIA tool to implement more math instructions specifically for their application.

Summary specifications and features comparison with traditional floating point coprocessors:

	ARC™ FPX	Floating Point Coprocessor
Size in gates	Single Precision:12K - 14K Double Precision: 24K-30K	100K - 130K
Performance	1.0 Mflops/MHz	1.3 Mflops/MHz
Additional Power	None (confirmed with customer benchmarks)	0.4 mW/MHz typical (0.13um, G process)
Configurability options	Flexible - SP, DP or both	None, monolithic design
Additional math instructions	Can be implemented by the user	Fixed design, not extendible

"ARC's new floating point extensions are an excellent example of the benefits of configurability," said Derek Meyer, vice president of marketing for ARC International. "Adding a large coprocessor can be cost-prohibitive in many cost-sensitive designs. By offering floating point functionality as extensions to ARC's cores, we are able to provide customers with a cost-effective way to design computationally intensive applications."

Availability
ARC's Single Precision Floating Point Extensions are available now. Double Precision Extensions will be available in the early summer of 2005. For more information, contact ARC directly at info@arc.com. Additional technical information on ARC FPX extensions is located at www.ARC.com/FPX.

About ARC International plc
ARC International is the 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, the ARC logo, MetaWare and ARC-Based are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARC International. intent is a registered trademark of Tao Group Ltd. 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.