MIPS Technologies Partners with Socle of Taiwan to Offer ASIC Design Services for Fabless Companies and System OEMs

Socle Licenses MIPS32™-Based Cores; Completes First Tapeout for MIPS® Licensee

TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 8, 2003  -- MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS, MIPSB) and Socle Technology Corporation, a leading SOC design services company in Taiwan, have entered into an agreement that will facilitate the design of MIPS-based™ SOC’s by fabless and system companies though a broad range of design services offered by Socle, the companies announced today.  Under the terms of the agreement, Socle has taken a license for the MIPS32™ 4KE™ and 4K™ family of cores.  Socle already has completed a tapeout for a MIPS Technologies licensee using Socle’s optimized deep sub-micron “SoC-ImP” design flow.

The announcement was at the event celebrating MIPS Technologies’ one-year anniversary of entering the Taiwan marketplace (see companion announcements dated April 8, 2003).  Socle’s capabilities enable MIPS licensees in Taiwan to leverage Socle’s expertise in developing finished GDSII and delivering chips with maximum performance and minimum die size, offering a range of services such as core hardening and merging, and platform-based design.

“Design engineers developing SOC’s for next-generation products increasingly rely upon industry-standard microprocessor technology to ease their design challenges,” said David Lyou, president of Socle Technology.  “Our customers will greatly benefit from MIPS Technologies’ advanced embedded core architecture that features synthesizable, high performance, configurable options, small die sizes and low power consumption.  Together, we offer unique, turnkey SOC solutions that will simplify customers’ design challenges and get them to market faster.”

“Socle’s expertise in SOC design combined with widely recognized EDA engineering capabilities ensure our customers can realize the full advantages of MIPS Technologies flexible, synthesizable microprocessor architecture,” commented Jack Browne, vice president of worldwide sales at MIPS Technologies. “Our agreement with Socle underscores our commitment to the Taiwanese fabless industry that is looking to compete in the global semiconductor market with leading-edge solutions.  By basing their future designs upon an industry-standard hardware platform, these companies will ensure their investments are secure for years to come, while enjoying the benefits of optimized software tools and peripheral IP that are available to MIPS licensees.”

About Socle Technology Corp.
Socle Technology Corp., founded in June 2001, is a professional and energetic company that aims to provide the world’s leading service for the SOC designs. With a group of experienced professionals, Socle has been focusing on developing and deploying the value added SoC-ImP™ and the advanced ìPlatform™-based solutions. By aligning with the world’s leading foundries, EDA / IP vendors and service partners, the company can provide the best fitted solutions for ICs in various applications, such as media processing, networking and communication. For more information, please visit http://www.socle-tech.com.tw.

About MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and business 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 and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at +1 (650) 567-5000 or www.mips.com.

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MIPS is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, and MIPS-based, MIPS32, 4KE and 4K are trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc.  All other trademarks referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.