The SPIRIT Consortium Welcomes STARC as the First Japanese Institute to Support Design Meta-Data Standardization

STARC Becomes The Consortium's First Associate Member SAN JOSE, Calif.---July 18, 2006--The SPIRIT Consortium(TM), a global non-profit organization focused on establishing multi-faceted IP/tool integration standards that drive sustainable growth in electronic design, today announced that STARC, the Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center based in Japan, has joined The Consortium as its first Associate Member.

As part of its standards development and deployment strategy, The SPIRIT Consortium has created a new class of membership -- the Associate Member -- for non-profit organizations and institutes. This level of membership grants early access and reviewing privileges for all specifications provided by The SPIRIT Consortium. More information on the significant plans for The Consortium's future will be provided at a general meeting being held in conjunction with the Design Automation Conference (DAC 2006) at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel on July 24 at 6:00 pm PDT.

STARC is a semiconductor technology research and development institute established and funded by eleven of Japan's leading semiconductor manufacturers. Led by the foremost needs of semiconductor makers, it promotes leading edge research and development in cooperation with the industry, universities, and public sector research and development institutions. The Center feeds the results of its research and development to its funding companies, thus contributing to their business. It finds wider use, too, among the semiconductor industry as a whole, by setting and releasing technological standards and issuing licenses to partner corporations for commercialization of products.

"As the leading institute in Japan for collaboration of IP reuse-based SoC design technology, STARC's focus aligns perfectly with the scope and intent of the specifications currently being developed by The SPIRIT Consortium," said Ralph von Vignau, chair of The SPIRIT Consortium. "We are extremely happy to add STARC to our roster and look forward to collaborative efforts with this highly respected body of semiconductor companies."

The SPIRIT Consortium currently provides technical specifications that are helping the industry integrate multi-vendor design-flows efficiently. These specifications will benefit integrated device manufacturers by providing faster time-to-market through automated IP configuration, integration and verification.

"With STARC taking part in The SPIRIT Consortium as the first Associate Member, STARC's funding companies will be able to engage immediately with new technology being developed within The SPIRIT Consortium," said Nobuo Fudanuki, vice president of STARC. "Providing feedback on specifications under development will ensure that the specifications of The Consortium are tuned to the needs and priorities of the Japanese semiconductor industry."

About The Consortium

The SPIRIT Consortium is a global organization focused on establishing multi-faceted IP/tool integration standards that drive sustainable growth in electronic design. It is comprised of leading EDA, IP, system integration, and semiconductor companies dedicated to the adoption of a unified set of specifications for configuring, integrating, and verifying IP in advanced SoC design tool sets. For more information on The SPIRIT Consortium and its goals, please visit www.spiritconsortium.org.