ARC Cores announces BlueARC' IP core for Bluetooth' wireless technology

Elstree, England, 27th November 2000 - ARC Cores (LSE:ARK) today announces BlueARC?, a low-cost solution for developers who want to add Bluetooth' wireless technology to their products. BlueARC is an integrated package of synthesizable hardware and software, and the hardware is portable to the designer's choice of chip-fabrication processes. Developers can take BlueARC-based designs to any foundry, providing access to the lowest-cost silicon.

The new BlueARC intellectual property (IP) core is based on ARC's user-configurable 32-bit Tangent-A4 microprocessor and a baseband controller and protocol stack licensed from Tality Corporation, a subsidiary of Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NYSE:CDN). BlueARC is one of the lowest cost, fully featured solutions for implementing a wide range of products based on Bluetooth wireless technology. In addition to providing HDL source code for the baseband controller, BlueARC offers integrated USB, Bluetooth profiles, a BlueRF-compliant radio interface, SoC (system-on-chip) design-support files, software-development and debug tools, and a BlueARC development system.

With BlueARC, developers can rapidly deliver a Bluetooth wireless-technology solution optimized for the performance and cost requirements of the application. BlueARC flexibly supports single- or multichip Bluetooth implementations. Other solutions may require a separate processor specifically for the Bluetooth function, together with additional processors and stacks to implement system functions. This adds to the cost, consumes more power, and makes software development more complicated. In contrast, BlueARC reduces the silicon requirement and shortens the development cycle, enabling lower costs, lower power consumption, and faster time to market.

BlueARC provides excellent power consumption. It is scalable from a minimum of 12MHz clock speed for power-sensitive, low MIPS requirements, to higher clock rates for performance-critical applications. Tangent?s unique user-configurability lets developers add Bluetooth wireless technology to a wide range of products, and has ample additional processing capability that developers can use - both today and in the future.

Availability:

BlueARC evaluation kits, based on the ARCangel FPGA development system, will be available early Q1 ?01, followed by a full product release in early Q2 ?01. Bob Terwilliger, CEO of ARC International, said, ?ARC?s technology is increasingly becoming accepted in this market sector because our customers are able to differentiate their own products as a result of user-configurability. We have several customers who are developing their own Bluetooth solutions depending on their own specific applications and target markets - like BrightCom Technologies and RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD). Now, with BlueARC, we can offer our customers a wider choice of foundry-independent Bluetooth solutions.?

Brent Hudson, Vice President & GM of Tality?s Wireless & Multimedia design group, said ? ARC has chosen a baseband controller core with a strong track record in their target markets. Twelve of Tality?s customers in those markets are using it successfully. Moreover, our commitment to keep our technology on track with the Bluetooth specification ensures that Tality can support the BlueARC product roadmap over the long term.?

ARC Cores is a trademark of ARC International (UK) Limited.
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