MontaVista Software Endorses CE Linux Forum 1.0 Specification; Welcomes Standards and Integrates Features in Its Own Consumer Electronics Linux Product

Business Wire, July 1, 2004

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- MontaVista Software, Inc. today strongly endorsed the 1.0 Specification formally announced this week by the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF). These new standards outline a set of features for the Linux operating system that are beneficial for companies developing consumer electronics devices.

CELF was established last June to promote the use of the Linux(R) platform for consumer electronics devices through developing and implementing consumer electronics-specific standards. Its membership includes eight major consumer electronics companies: Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.), Sony Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., NEC Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation and Toshiba Corporation. MontaVista Software is also an active member and contributor in the group.

"MontaVista has worked closely with the CE Linux Forum in defining and delivering these specifications," said Jim Ready, CEO and president, MontaVista Software. "In fact, MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition (CEE), a fully tested and productized Linux platform, already incorporates most of the CELF 1.0 features and numerous industry-leading consumer electronics vendors are shipping advanced products built on CEE today. We are delighted to support CELF in its efforts to further advance the use of Linux in consumer electronics."

MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition 3.1 is a premier quality Linux operating system and cross-development environment specifically designed for consumer electronics devices such as mobile phones, digital televisions, set-top boxes and automotive telematics. CEE includes many of the technologies specified by CELF. Since launching in March 2003, CEE has offered device manufacturers better performance compared to standard Linux, including reduced boot and shutdown times, improved real-time performance, reduced ROM/RAM size, audio-visual and graphics functions, security enhancements and dynamic power management.

According to Kevin Morgan, vice president, Engineering, MontaVista Software, "MontaVista has played a significant role in optimizing Linux for Consumer Electronics. We have participated in the development of all the 13 technologies that went towards the CELF 1.0 specification and our current products already include 11 of these key technologies. Our engineers helped develop the base CELF kernel containing these key features, and we are proud to be a contributor to this effort."

These valuable software contributions are consistent with the company's historical Open Source practices. MontaVista Software demonstrates similar leadership activities as a member of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), where it has helped drive the Carrier Grade Linux specification effort through its active participation and contribution.

"We are proud to provide Open Source leadership with a specific focus on Consumer Electronics and Telecommunications technologies," added Morgan. MontaVista Software has contributed to and continues to sponsor a wide range of Open Source projects. A partial listing of key projects is available at http://www.mvista.com/developer/sourceforge.html

Some of the key technologies that meet the advanced requirements of the Consumer Electronics market are available in MontaVista Linux today, including:

--Preemptible Kernel

--Lock-break

--O(1) Scheduler

--Parallel and deferred I/O initialization

--High Resolution Timers

--Dynamic Power Management

--CPU Frequency Scaling

--Clock rate change on non-preemptible regions

--Protect RAM File System

--Fast Boot Features

--Kernel Execute-In-Place and

--Application Execute-In-Place

About the Consumer Electronics Edition

CEE 3.1 is built on the 2.4.20 Linux kernel, including advanced features either developed by MontaVista or leveraged from the Linux 2.6 kernel. CEE supports a broad range of consumer device-specific processors from Freescale (a Motorola subsidiary), Intel, Renesas, and Texas Instruments. Building on advanced features introduced March 2003, CEE 3.1 includes boot-time improvements, dynamic power management (DPM), advanced real-time technologies, Protected RAM File system (PRAMFS), and Kernel/Application XIP (execute in place from flash memory). CEE 3.1 also incorporates MontaVista(R) DevRocket(TM) 1.0, the company's advanced integrated development environment (IDE), built on industry standard Eclipse technology. With DevRocket, developers can measure and reduce system size as well as benchmark real-time performance. In addition, DevRocket provides an interface for measuring system boot timing using Kernel Function Instrumentation (KFI), a technology included in the CELF 1.0 specification.

Availability

MontaVista Linux Consumer Electronics Edition 3.1 is available from MontaVista Software and the company's sales and distribution channels worldwide. CEE 3.1 provides customers with the MontaVista Linux kernel, software updates, deployment components, utilities, development tools, access to the MontaVista Zone (a customer portal), comprehensive technical support and access to hands-on Linux training classes. For more information about CEE, please visit http://www.mvista.com/cee.>