ARC International's SoC Platform Delivers Single-Chip Digital and Analog Audio to Mobile Consumers

austriamicrosystems selects ARCtangent™ architecture to reduce development costs, time-to-market and power usage for mobile MP3, AAC and WMA audio

San Jose, CA, September 9, 2002 -ARC International (LSE: ARK), a world leader in configurable System-on-Chip (SoC) platform technologies, has extended its 32-bit RISC/DSP ARCtangent microprocessor core architecture to the digital and analog audio market with the introduction of the single-chip austriamicrosystems AS3520 silicon sound card.

Based in Graz, Austria, austriamicrosystems selected the industry-leading, fully synthesizable ARCtangent architecture for the development of a low-power, single-chip MCU/DSP core configured for high-performance mobile audio. Various audio features include digital music decoding (MP3 up to 320 kbps, 48-kHz; Advanced Audio Coding up to 256 kbps and Windows Media Audio); audio-processing tasks such as equalizers and voice encoding (ADPCM), and MIDI formatted ringtones.

ARC's suite of microprocessor core development tools enabled a highly integrated single-chip design that resulted in 60 percent less PCB space and 30 percent less cost than equivalent audio semiconductor solutions while consuming less power. Internal low-power management features support external battery sources ranging from 1.0 to 5.5 volts, ensuring the longest battery-life for "on-the-go" mobile audio applications.

"ARC International provided the most efficient and high-performance microprocessor architecture available to meet the stringent mixed-signal SoC requirements for our emerging Mobile Music Platform," said Alexander Harrer, general manager, Communications Business Unit, of austriamicrosystems. "In addition to the cost-saving and space-saving benefits to our designs, ARC reduced our development risks by providing all the vital tools in the engineering cycle, thus reducing our need for multiple intellectual property (IP) suppliers."

"ARC International's SoC development platform complements austriamicrosystems design expertise in the area of standalone audio players, mobile phones, PDAs and digital cameras," stated Mike Gulett, president and chief executive of ARC International. "Our collaboration confirms ARC's commitment to provide innovation and leadership in the mobile consumer market by offering system developers the greatest ease and flexibility in developing highly differentiated products."

The ARC International SoC development platform reduces time-to-market, development costs, the number of IP suppliers and overall risk by including the hardware and software components that designers need to build most of a system straight out of the box. In addition to the ARCtangent customizable processor and ARChitect™ configuration tool, the ARC product range includes configurable software-development tools, a real-time operating system (RTOS), network-protocol stacks, USB and Ethernet peripherals, device drivers, and more.

About ARC International
ARC International is an industry-leading developer of embedded user-customizable, high-performance 32-bit RISC/DSP processor cores, with integrated development tools, peripherals, RTOS and software. These integrated products and solutions are a result of the acquisitions of MetaWare, VAutomation and Precise Software Technologies. ARC's integrated intellectual property solutions assist customers in rapidly developing next generation wireless, networking and consumer electronics products, reducing the number of IP suppliers, reducing time-to-market, reducing costs, and reducing the risk for System-on-Chip product development. Products based on ARC's technology include digital still cameras, set-top boxes, and network processors.
ARC International employs more than 200 people in research and development, sales, and marketing offices across North America, Europe and Israel. Full details of the company's locations and other information are on the company's web site, www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE:ARK).

About austriamicrosystems
With headquarters near Graz, Austria, austriamicrosystems AG is a world leader in design, development and manufacturing of highly integrated mixed signal ICs. Operating worldwide from 14 locations around the globe with 890 employees, austriamicrosystems Offers a broad range of customer solutions for the automotive, communication, industrial and healthcare markets. austriamicrosystems provides comprehensive development and manufacturing services for IC and system solutions, including: research and development, design, process development, wafer production, assembly and testing. In addition, austriamicrosystems offers a wide range of semiconductor processes such as HV-CMOS, BiCMOS, SiGe and CMOS in structural widths down to 0.35 um.
Additional information is available on Internet http://www.austriamicrosystems.com