ARC International Next-Generation SoC Development Platform Targets “Six Months or Less” Design Cycle

Application-independent, single-software development tool chain integrates 32-bit ARCtangent™-A5 RISC/DSP with application-specific extensions for communications and consumer products

San Jose, CA, October 21, 2002 – ARC International (LSE: ARK), a world leader in configurable System-on-Chip (SoC) platform technologies, has unveiled its latest generation of a highly integrated and unified system development product, based on a RISC/DSP processor and a single-software tool chain. By integrating application-independent, configurable hardware and software building blocks with a growing range of application-specific extensions and peripherals, ARC continues to lead the industry as the only company offering a complete and unified system development chain that can be used to develop optimized products for the communications and consumer markets.

At the heart of ARC's next-generation SoC development platform is the newest version of the ARCtangent-A5 user-customizable 32-bit RISC/DSP microprocessor core. The platform also includes configurable software-development tools, a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), network-protocol stacks, USB and Ethernet peripherals with device drivers.

ARC's next generation SoC platform directly supports the company's mission to provide customers with a single SoC development platform where design cycles of six months or less are critical. By significantly reducing the number of IP suppliers that customers have to deal with, development costs and overall design risks are significantly reduced.

"While many companies offer a few IP building blocks via third-party relationships, our long-term strategy has always focused beyond our user-customizable RISC/DSP processor to integrate virtually all of the necessary software, peripherals, tools and platforms to deliver an optimized, single-source development environment for the SoC developer," said Mike Gulett, president and chief executive of ARC International. "By obtaining all of the required IP from a single, reliable source, developers save valuable integration time, reducing risk and cost. When an SoC design is required in six months or less, our integrated development platform is the one to choose."

Each hardware and software building block has been fully tested and integrated into a single-software development tool chain.

ARC will be demonstrating its next-generation SoC development platform next month at Electronica (November 10-15, 2002, Munich), showcasing the latest generation of the ARCtangent-A5 processor, the ARChitect™ processor configuration tool for integrating peripheral IP such as Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and Ethernet, and a new GUI-enhanced version of the popular MetaWare® SeeCode™ debugger.

ARCtangent-A5 RISC/DSP Core
Targeted for ASIC and SoC products, the ARCtangent-A5 user-customizable 32-bit RISC/DSP core delivers high performance with compact code size. It inherits the feature set of the previous generation ARCtangent-A4 processor, but adds powerful new capabilities, including the ARCompact™ instruction set, more instruction slots for improved extensibility, peripheral support and additional DSP instructions and features.

The optimized, mixed 16/32-bit code density ARCompact Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) reduces code size by more than 30% when compared to a 32-bit RISC such as the ARCtangent-A4 processor.

The newest version of the ARCtangent-A5 processor supports the emerging, open-standard BVCI protocol and will be enhanced with optional AMBA bus support later this year. By supporting both popular high-level bus standards, developers will be able to easily connect their ARCtangent-based designs to a wider variety of in-house or third-party IP in faster time.

With optional DSP extensions, the ARCtangent-A5 processor provides developers with a highly integrated and unified RISC/DSP system suitable for a wide range of communications and consumer applications. These include Voice over Packet (VoP), digital wireless (2.5/3G baseband, 802.11x wireless LAN, etc.), digital imaging and DVD (JPEG, JPEG2000, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, etc.), and digital audio (MP3, AAC, WMA, AC-3, etc.).

MetaWare SeeCode™
The MetaWare SeeCode debugger was one of the first with the ability to debug single or multiprocessor systems. The enhancements made to the Graphical User Interface (GUI) include consolidated windows within a single frame, convenient tabs for browsing through tiered windows, and offers more control by providing expanded save session settings as well as a wizard setup utility to configure multiprocessor support.

ARC Platform Provides Easy Configuration of Application-Specific IP Blocks
ARC's next-generation SoC development platform is optimized to support today's most popular applications. Using the easy-to-use, GUI-based ARChitect processor configuration software tool, developers can quickly integrate custom extension instructions, condition codes, auxiliary registers and ARC's pre-integrated, application-specific peripheral soft IP blocks, including:

• USB: ARC International offers a full range of USB cores including the world's first Hi-Speed USB 2.0 On-The Go (OTG) soft IP block for SoC platforms. Support is provided for either Device-Only, or OTG functionality at either high speed (480Mbits/sec) or with reduced gate count at full-speed (12Mbits/sec) operation.
• Ethernet MAC: ARC's 10/100Mbits/sec Ethernet MAC soft IP block is fully IEEE 802.3-compliant, and supports popular standards including 10-BaseT, 100-BaseTX and 100-BaseFX.

ARC's pre-integrated soft IP blocks remove the time-consuming and costly task of having to integrate and verify IP cores from multiple IP suppliers, and provides developers an efficient platform to focus on differentiating their application-specific logic. The soft format of the IP also means that the developer has complete visibility of the Verilog®/VHDL RTL source code and the choice of almost any fabrication process or vendor.

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).

Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, among others, market acceptance of the ARC technology; fluctuations in and unpredictability of the Company's quarterly results; general economic and business conditions; regulatory policies adopted by governmental authorities; assumptions regarding the Company's future business strategy; changes in technology; competition; ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; risks associated with the Company's international operations; and other uncertainties that are discussed in the "Investment Considerations" section of the Company's listing particulars dated 28 September 2000 filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date such statement was first made

ARC, the ARC logo, ARCtangent, ARChitect, ARCompact and SeeCode are trademarks of ARC International. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.