MIPS Technologies and Appnet reach accord for supply of advanced SoC prototyping platform for processor cores

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., -- July 17, 2000 - MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:  MIPS, MIPSB), a leading provider of industry standard processor  architectures and cores for digital consumer and network applications, and  AppNet, Inc. today announced that AppNet will be supplying a complete SOC  (system-on-chip) prototyping platform, called Proteus, for MIPS  Technologies’ MIPS32 4Kc™ processor cores.  The new system, which will use  MIPS32 4Kc silicon for accurate prototyping, is intended for early hardware  and software integration of complex SOC designs.

“AppNet is pleased to be working with MIPS Technologies to develop advanced  prototyping tools for MIPS Technologies’ industry-leading processor cores,”  said Dick Clover, President and CEO of AppNet. "The AppNet solution is a  breakthrough that lowers the price point for commercial prototyping  hardware, making use of the AppNet product  instead of a custom prototyping  board design  the methodology of choice to address first-time-functional,  manufacturable, complex systems-in-silicon."

“AppNet’s prototyping tools will help our customers accelerate their  development of advanced MIPS-based systems,” stated Brian Knowles, Vice  President of Marketing at MIPS Technologies. “In today’s fast-paced market  environment, reducing time to market is critical to the success of our  customers. The Proteus family of products will contribute to that success  by supporting the development of MIPS-based designs containing millions of  gates.”

AppNet’s new products make possible a superior approach for the rapid  development of high-speed mixed-signal prototypes. Eight- and 20-site FPGA  (field-programmable gate-array) boards dedicated for storing partitioned  versions of the customer’s RTL design are available which may also be  partially populated or stacked together for supporting designs of 250K  gates to 10M gates. Also, each of the FPGAs can be replaced with actual  MIPS32 4Kc silicon device, emulating a multi-core SOC.  Clock rates range  from 10MHz to 50MHz.

System software is available for partitioning, for mapping interconnects,  for generating a simulation model and for providing probe signals. AppNet’s  software also generates a net-list that describes the interconnection of  the FPGA, thus creating an accurate hardware prototype of the SOC.  Special  plug-in adapters allow the use of customer specific components, and  standard products like DRAM.

Entry cost of a prototyping package is competitively priced starting at  $100,000. As a result, chip design teams can choose to buy multiple  prototyping systems in order to provide units for each hardware and  software engineer on the team. Since the engineers do not need to wait for  first silicon, the design teams can shorten the overall time to market by  three to six months or more.

AppNet is the leading provider of affordable, easy-to-use, high-performance  prototyping solutions that accelerate time-to-market of complex networking  and other microprocessor-based systems-in-silicon. AppNet has been in  business since 1995 offering emulation and verification consulting services  to major companies’ chip design teams. More recently, AppNet has developed  its own prototyping tools and now provides those tools along with  application engineering support from its team of consultants.

About AppNet, Inc.
AppNet is located at 1674 N. Shoreline Blvd #130, Mountain View, CA 94043.  It can be reached at +1 650 964-1235 or by fax at +1 650 964-8720 or by  email at info@appnetinc.com. More information can be seen on AppNet’s  website, www.appnetinc.com.
 

About MIPS Technologies, Inc.
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry standard  processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and network  applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that  is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions.  The company licenses  its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers, and  system OEMs.  MIPS Technologies, Inc. and its licensees offer the widest  range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and  application-specific products.

Licensees currently include: Alchemy Semiconductor, Inc.; Altera  Corporation; ATI Technologies, Inc.; Broadcom Corporation; Centillium  Communications, Inc.; Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing; CommQuest  (IBM); ESS Technology, Inc.; Excess Bandwidth; General Instrument  Corporation; Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT); Lara Networks, Inc.;  LSI Logic Corporation; Macronix; Metalink Ltd.; NEC Corporation; NKK  Corporation; Philips Semiconductors; Quantum Effect Devices, Inc. (QED);  QuickLogic Corporation; Sandcraft, Inc.; SiByte, Inc.; Sony Corporation;  Synova; Texas Instruments Incorporated; Toshiba Corporation; and Taiwan  Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Numerous companies utilize MIPS-based™  intellectual property. MIPS Technologies, Inc. is based in Mountain View,  California, and can be reached at 650-567-5000 or http://www.mips.com.

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MIPS is a registered trademark and MIPS-based, MIPS32, 4K and 4Kc are  trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property  of their respective companies. All press materials are available on the  World Wide Web via: http://www.mips.com.

Please direct MIPS Technologies sales inquiries to: Martin Kingdom, MIPS  Technologies, Windmill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK  SN5 6QR.  Tel +44 1793 441 470.  Fax +44 1793 441 570.  Email:  eurosales@mips.com

Media Contacts:

AppNet, Inc.
Bruce LeBoss
+1 408-541-8744
leboss@chipshots.com