CriticalBlue and Toshiba Collaborate on Multicore Software Development Environment

CriticalBlue Delivers Key Elements of the Software Development Ecosystem for Toshiba’s Venezia Multicore Platform

San Jose, CA - September 26, 2008 -- CriticalBlue, leader in accelerated embedded software solutions, has partnered with Toshiba to customize elements of CriticalBlue’s multicore technology for use by developers targeting the Venezia platform. The first phase of the program has already been completed and is in use internally today. A second phase has been defined and is under development. The complete Venezia ecosystem, once completed, will be used internally and by Toshiba’s customers.

“The multicore and multithreaded nature of the Venezia platform introduces a number of new challenges for software developers,” commented Dr. Toru Furuyama, Ph.D., General Manager, Center For Semiconductor R&D, Semiconductor Company, Toshiba Corporation. “CriticalBlue’s unique technology is already addressing tough programming challenges and accelerating the performance and delivery of scalable, thread safe software for our platforms.”

Toshiba’s Venezia is a new, scalable, low power multicore platform targeted at mobile multimedia applications. The underlying hardware architecture contains a variable number of Media Processing Engines (MPEs). Each MPE contains a MeP, Toshiba’s original RISC processor core, with an optional VLIW coprocessor optimized for multimedia acceleration. On the software side, a lightweight kernel on multiple MPEs is provided. Software applications are designed to scale and load balance across the available processing elements, providing unprecedented power efficiency.

The Venezia software ecosystem combines a number of CriticalBlue’s analysis, guidance and implementation capabilities such that developers can truly understand the relationships between their multithreaded software and how it executes on the underlying multicore architecture. Combined with Toshiba’s compiler tool chain, the Venezia ecosystem delivers shorter development times along with more optimal software implementation and hardware execution.

”The CriticalBlue multicore development group has built an excellent working relationship with the Toshiba team in developing solutions for the Venezia ecosystem,” commented David Stewart, CEO, CriticalBlue. “Our multicore software/hardware expertise and technology strongly complement the approach and perspective of the Toshiba designers.”

About CriticalBlue

CriticalBlue is a pioneer of flexible, automated system design solutions that meet the increasing performance, power, and cost demands of delivering advanced electronic products within today’s demanding design schedules. The increasing use of complex, multicore processor architectures has accelerated demand for CriticalBlue’s technology and expertise throughout all electronic industry sectors. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, with offices in San Jose, California, and Tokyo, Japan, CriticalBlue currently employs 25 people. The company is funded by European, Silicon Valley, and Japanese venture capitalists and corporate investors.