MiSPO Demonstrates µITRON Support for Configurable ARC Cores at ESEC 2005

– ARC International (LSE: ARK) and MiSPO Co., Ltd., a leading supplier of µITRON-based technology, today announced that MiSPO has ported their NORTi® Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) to ARC’s architecture and will demonstrate it to SoC designers at the eighth annual Embedded Systems Expo and Conference (ESEC) in Tokyo. The demonstration (ESEC Booth Number 6-001) will highlight MiSPO’s NORTi RTOS, µITRON 4.0-compatible real-time kernel and ITRON TCP/IP API-compatible protocol stack running on an ARC 605 configurable processor.

“ARC’s configurable cores provide cost-effective, low-power solutions that enable true differentiation at the chip level,” said Hisanori Miyazaki, president of MiSPO. “The combination of our NORTi RTOS and ARC’s processors allows embedded developers to experience the benefits of configurability within an environment that is highly optimized for the Japanese semiconductor industry.”

“Our relationship with MiSPO and the availability of µITRON technology for ARC’s customers are the latest deliverables in our promise to bring the benefits of configurable CPU technology to the Japanese semiconductor market,” said Derek Meyer, vice president of marketing for ARC International. “We expect that the availability of µITRON for our products will enhance the already strong value proposition our cores and subsystems offer developers of embedded applications in Japan.”

Availability
Various middleware solutions from MiSPO, including supporting protocols such as PPP, SNMP, POP3/SMTP and HTTP will be available soon for the ARC 600 product line. MiSPO plans to provide full NORTi and middleware support for ARC configurable processor solutions by the end of 2005.

The Configurable ARC 605 Core
The ARC 605 processor core is the world’s smallest, lowest power and most configurable 32-bit core. In a 0.13 micron process, it offers a maximum clock frequency of 250 MHz, power consumption of 0.06 mW/MHz and a die size of 0.31mm2. The 605 core is an ideal solution for a wide range of embedded control and computing functions within SoCs. The core is designed for hard real-time processing, where high speed and deterministic response are required. Furthermore, custom instruction extensions may be incorporated to achieve application performance levels unattainable with fixed architecture cores.

About MiSPO Co., Ltd.
MiSPO Co., Ltd. was established in 1995 as a start-up company to provide real-time operating system (RTOS) and middleware solutions to the Japanese embedded systems market. General-purpose and very compact, the NORTi RTOS from MiSPO has been adopted by over 1,000 companies for various applications, including office automation equipment (printers, faxes), cellular phones, network terminals, industrial automation, measurement equipment, and medical devices. More information about MiSPO and NORTi is available on the Internet at http://www.mispo.co.jp/ (Japanese only).

About ARC International plc
ARC International is the world leader in low-power, high-performance 32-bit configurable CPU/DSP processor cores, subsystems, real-time operating systems and development tools for embedded system design. ARC’s configurable and extendible cores assist customers in the development of next generation digital media, consumer and communications devices, resulting in lower cost, higher performance SoC products.

ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate offices in San Jose, California, USA and Elstree, UK. The company has research and development offices located in England and the United States. For more information please visit the ARC website at: www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE: ARK).

ARC and the ARC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARC International. NORTi is a trademark of MiSPO Co., Ltd. All other brands or product names contained herein are the property of their respective owners. This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For factors that could cause actual results to differ, visit the company’s Website as well as the listing particulars filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales.