3DSP offers new lower-cost, flexible development environment that matches customer needs

IRVINE, Calif., April 8, 2003 - 3DSP Corporation, the leader in configurable digital signal processor (DSP) architectures, today announced a new, lower-cost development platform that features modular software and hardware options that offer the flexibility to choose the development platform that suits a customer's own system-on-chip (SoC) development environment. The new development kit named the Sketchpad Baseboard is designed to provide an ideal access gateway and emulation platform to optimize and evaluate 3DSP's advanced DSP architecture, prototype hardware and efficiently and quickly develop application software. Flexibility is also improved as designers have the ability to choose either a software simulator or the Sketchpad hardware to speed development and debug code.

To further complement a designer's SoC development environment, 3DSP offers two optional daughter boards. The SP-x Development Board allows a user to download a 3DSP processor into the Xilinx® Virtex-IIä™ FPGA and evaluate software using the FPGA-based hardware. The SP-5D Board offers test software on ASIC-based hardware, which provides for a development environment that is even closer to the final product.

"We really wanted to focus on customers' needs when we created the development options for the Sketchpad Baseboard, providing the most cost-efficient and flexible environment for them to evaluate and optimize 3DSP's architecture without redundant tools," said Kan Lu, CTO at 3DSP. "With the Sketchpad Development Kit, designers get an easy to use tool that gives them the ability to quickly develop application software. By using the optional daughter boards, they can develop peripheral software without waiting for a hardware prototype."

All Sketchpad Baseboard development kits come with a development board with the appropriate processor, power supply and USB cables, and a complete set of 3DSP's Software Studio™ development tools. Software Studio includes a C compiler, assembler and linker, cycle accurate simulator, GUI-based debugger and library manager. 3DSP's software development tools, which are automatically configured to match the selected system design, enable designers to edit, compile, assemble, optimize, debug, and manage application code.

The Sketchpad Baseboard and optional daughter boards are available now. Pricing for the Baseboard including Software Studio is $5,995, with individual daughter board pricing starting at $995. 3DSP will give price discounts for purchases of multiple development boards and to customers who purchase a Software Studio site license.

About 3DSP

3DSP offers the industry's only fully configurable digital signal processing architecture with a comprehensive object-oriented design environment and application-based intellectual property. 3DSP's technology empowers system designers to create custom SoC solutions in silicon that achieve significant competitive advantages in terms of performance, integration, power consumption, cost and time-to-market for tomorrow's multimedia, wireless and Voice over Packet applications. For more information on the company and its products, visit www.3dsp.com or contact 3DSP headquarters at 16271 Laguna Canyon Rd., Irvine, CA 92618, phone: (949) 435-0600 fax: (949) 435-0700.

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3DSP Corporation, 3DSP, Sketchpad and Software Studio are trademarks of 3DSP Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.