Mercury Computer Systems Announces Software Development Kit for Programming the Cell BE Processor

MultiCore Plus SDK empowers users with programming ease and maximizes application performance for Cell BE processor-based solutions from Mercury and IBM

CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Sept. 19, 2006 -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) announced the release of its software suite for programming the Cell Broadband Engine(TM) (BE) processor.

The Mercury MultiCore Plus(TM) SDK 1.0 (Software Development Kit) provides a complete, intuitive programming environment for products based on the Cell BE and other multicore processors. Combining a powerful set of software tools and libraries into a seamless package, the MultiCore Plus SDK enables users to maximize resources and application performance by taking full advantage of the multicore processor's computation model. The Beta version of this software has been in use at customers across industries since late 2005 including aerospace & defense, seismic, semiconductor, life sciences, digital media, and national labs.

"The release of Mercury's development kit software combined with our own recent announcement of the availability of the Cell BE-based IBM BladeCenter(TM) QS20 demonstrates the momentum behind and the industry demand for this type of graphic intensive, Cell-based computing," said Satish Gupta, Vice President, Development & Delivery, Technology Collaboration Solutions, IBM Corp. "Together, IBM and Mercury are able to bring Cell-based innovative products and solutions to market quickly through product development, joint marketing and collaborative selling activities."

Mercury and IBM announced an alliance focused on the joint development, engineering and commercialization of Cell BE processor-based products in 2005. Since then, Mercury has announced a family of Cell BE processor-based products including the Cell Accelerator Board, a 1U server, the ruggedized PowerBlock(TM) 200, and Cell Technology-based development systems available in multiple form factors. Also, Mercury and IBM have both recently announced the general availability of a Cell BE processor-based IBM BladeCenter blade which both companies are actively selling.

Mercury has been shipping prototype versions of its Dual Cell-Based Blade since December 2005, and production versions since August 2006. The Dual Cell-Based Blade is the first Cell BE processor-based product available outside of the gaming industry.

"Enabling customers to achieve unprecedented computational performance is nothing new for Mercury -- we've been doing it for 20 years," said Craig Lund, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "While programming the Cell BE processor requires a different paradigm for many software developers, it's a simple extension of our existing capabilities to the multicore architecture, which we provide to the user in a comprehensive package."

The Mercury MultiCore Plus SDK is part of Mercury's MultiCore Plus Advantage, which is designed to foster programmability of all of these products, while at the same time ensuring product performance. The MultiCore Plus SDK is supported on the open source Linux distribution for Cell and complements components of the IBM SDK. The focus of the MultiCore Plus SDK is performance and developer productivity. Highly optimized math libraries and middleware communication frameworks provide optimal runtime performance, while developer productivity is increased with use of the Eclipse-based IDE and associated plug-ins such as the Mercury Trace Analysis Tool and Library (TATL(TM)).

General availability of the Mercury MultiCore Plus SDK 1.0 is scheduled for this month. For more information, visit www.mc.com/cell or contact Mercury at 866-627-6951.

The MultiCore Plus Advantage

The Mercury MultiCore Plus Advantage employs sophisticated middleware that abstracts hardware capabilities and manages the distribution of data across multiple computing elements working in tandem. By leveraging the MultiCore Plus Advantage from Mercury, customers can benefit from patented cooling technologies, lightweight system-on-chip (SoC) management software, multicore implementations of key algorithms, visualization tools designed for clusters, algorithm tuning, and more.

About Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) is the leading provider of high-performance embedded, real-time digital signal and image processing solutions. Mercury's solutions play a critical role in a wide range of applications, transforming sensor data to information for analysis and interpretation. In military reconnaissance and surveillance platforms the Company's systems process real-time radar, sonar, and signals intelligence data. Mercury's systems are also used in state-of-the-art medical diagnostic imaging devices including MRI, PET, and digital X-ray, and in semiconductor imaging applications including photomask generation and wafer inspection. Mercury provides advanced 3D image processing and visualization software and optimized systems to diverse end markets including life sciences, geosciences, and simulation. The Company also provides radio frequency (RF) products for enhanced communications capabilities in military and commercial applications.

Based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Mercury serves customers in North America, Europe and Asia through its direct sales force and a network of subsidiaries and distributors. Visit Mercury on the web at www.mc.com.