Axis and ARM Partner to Develop Co-Verification Solution for Embedded System Designs

Business Wire, March 19, 2001

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. and SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 2001

Companies to Develop Improved Software Debugging Capabilities and

a Faster Hardware/Software Co-Verification Solution for Designers

Using ARM Processors

ARM ((LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq:ARMHY)), the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor technology, and Axis Systems Inc. Monday announced that Axis has partnered with ARM to develop a hardware/software co-verification product for embedded system designers.

Axis joins the ARM EDA Partnership Program, whose other members include AXYS Design Automation, Cadence, CoWare, IKOS, Innoveda, Mentor Graphics, Synopsys and Virtio.

The companies will work together to integrate Axis' ReConfigurable Computing technology with ARM(R) processor models and software debugging environment. The integration aims at providing a solution that is much faster and easier to use than other products on the market.

"Our customers have been telling us that the current hardware/software co-verification tools are slow and difficult to setup and debug, especially for software developers," said Mike Tsai, president and CEO, Axis. "As a result, designers trying to verify whole systems -- with hardware and embedded software -- are missing market windows. Our partnership with ARM has been created to eliminate the bottleneck that currently exists in system verification."

One of the key advantages of Axis technology is the ability to directly connect the ARM co-verification models to the Axis emulator from within the co-verification environment, resulting in a much higher performance hardware/software co-verification solution than is currently available. Axis' proven ReConfigurable Computing technology has demonstrated significant improvements in debug efficiency for hardware designers. This technology will be extended to software designers for more powerful embedded software debugging capabilities.

"There's an ever-increasing demand for a more efficient embedded software verification environment," said Duncan Bryan, product manager, ARM. "Axis has an innovative technology that will help our mutual customers verify their embedded software long before hardware prototypes are available. With Axis in our EDA Partnership Program, we can help ensure that our mutual customers will be able to take advantage of a very powerful hardware/software co-verification methodology."

The joint solution will help reduce time-to-market by enabling software verification to start much earlier in the design process. In addition, by verifying real software on the hardware design prior to prototype will increase the confidence that the system will operate as expected when manufactured.

About the ARM EDA Partnership Program

The ARM EDA Partnership Program brings together ARM's expertise in reusable intellectual property (IP) generation and IP modelling, with the electronic design automation (EDA) design methodology expertise of leading EDA tool vendors to develop faster, more accurate, routes to system-on-chip (SoC) products.

The Program establishes a framework of co-operation between engineering teams. The goal is to specify a range of core models, or IP views, that are developed by ARM as an integral component of the internal IP generation flow.

About ARM

ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-chip designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming the volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at www.arm.com.

About Axis Systems

Axis Systems Inc. offers high-performance verification platforms for the hardware and software development of complex electronic system and system-on-a-chip designs. Axis' products help increase confidence in new designs, improve overall verification productivity and shorten time to market.

On a single platform and with one design database, Axis' patented ReConfigurable Computing (RCC) technology provides software simulation, accelerated simulation, system emulation and hardware/software co-verification. Axis' verification products go "way beyond fast" -- they not only run fast, but also help customers identify and isolate bugs in a design faster than any other tool on the market.

Customers include the world's leading networking and multimedia companies. Axis has headquarters at 209 Java Drive, Sunnyvale, Calif., 94089. To learn more about Axis, visit www.axiscorp.com.

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM and NASDAQ: ARMHY); its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM, INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan.