AXYS Partners With ARM to Collaborate on Cycle-accurate Modelling Tools

CAMBRIDGE, UK - Mar. 05, 2001 - ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC processor solutions, today announced that AXYS Design Automation has partnered with ARM to collaborate on Cycle-Callable/Cycle-Accurate EDA tools. AXYS joins the ARM EDA Partnership Program, whose other members include Mentor Graphics, Synopsys, Cadence, Innoveda, CoWare, Virtio and IKOS.

AXYS' new Cycle-Accurate simulation and verification tools will support versions of both the ARM7[tm] and ARM9[tm] family of microprocessor cores. Cycle-Accurate modelling simulates processor cycles and replicates "real-world" usage of the microprocessor in-situ. These products are available from AXYS and will enable designers to quickly simulate ARM® and DSP models, while also providing an interface to common hardware simulators such as Verilog XL, Model Sim and IKOS Voyager.

"Developers wishing to simulate complex systems will benefit from the technology that this partnership brings. Using the ARM models and AXYS supplied models, customers will be able to utilize unique functionality and speed-up the development process," said Tim Hopes, Modeling Solutions Engineering manager, ARM.

Duncan Bryan, Modeling Solutions product manager, ARM, added, "ARM supports a wide range of technologies through its EDA Partnership Program and this arrangement with AXYS adds an important modelling technique to the portfolio."

"By making industry-leading ARM cores available as part of our growing library of fast and accurate processor models, customers can rapidly assemble ARM-based multi-core SoC simulations using our MaxSim C/C++ based cycle-accurate, synchronous simulation environment," said Stefan Tamme, vice president, Sales and Marketing, AXYS Design Automation. "This combination of ARM and AXYS technology will enable our joint customers to start software production long before the actual silicon of their SoC designs becomes available."

EDITORS' NOTE
In most co-verification systems, the processor model advances by one complete instruction each time it is called by the Hardware Simulator. An instruction may take one or more cycles. Cycle-callable processor models advance by a single cycle each time it is called, not by a complete instruction. This allows synchronization between several models on clock boundaries not instruction boundaries, thus making the models more accurate.

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 AXYS, Inc.
AXYS Design Automation, Inc. is the leading supplier of fast, accurate, and integrated processor models and related C/C++ based SoC modelling and verification tools. The LISA toolset automatically generates cycle-accurate SuperSim processor models and software development tools from an architectural description in the LISA language. Hierarchical SoC designs can be modelled by combining several SuperSim and other C-models into one cycle-accurate, synchronous multi-core simulation using the MaxSim environment. The use of AXYS' tools and services in the pre-silicon phase substantially shortens the SoC design cycle by enabling early system integration and embedded software development, thus reducing NRE cost and the number of silicon spins. AXYS' growing SuperSim model portfolio includes processors of Conexant Systems, DSP Group, Infineon Technologies and LSI Logic. For more information, visit AXYS' web site at:- www.AXYSdesign.com.

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.

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. ARM7 and ARM9 are trademarks of ARM Ltd. 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.
 

For more information, contact:
 

Michelle Spencer ARM Tel: +44 (0)1628 427780 Email: michelle.spencer@arm.com	Helen Ridgway / Duncan McKean AxiCom Tel: +44 (0)20 8600 4600 Email: helen.ridgway@axicom.com / duncan.mckean@axicom.com
Les Spruiell, Account Manager (les@vitalcompr.com) Karen Tyrrell, Account Director (karen@vitalcompr.com) VitalCom Marketing & Public Relations 990 Industrial Road, Suite 203 San Carlos, CA 94070 Tel: +1 (650) 637-8212 Fax: +1 (650) 637-8215