picoTurbo Joins UMC's Gold IP Program

MILPITAS, CA - July 5, 2000 - picoTurbo, Inc. a premier developer of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor cores for wireless Internet devices, today announced it has joined UMC's Gold IP Program. picoTurbo joins an elite list of intellectual property (IP) vendors whose IP is tested and verified to target UMC's deep submicron processes.

"UMC's advanced deep sub-micron process technologies offer tremendous opportunities to IC designers looking to profit from advanced technology products such as picoTurbo. The Gold IP Program continues to lead the foundry industry in the hardening of analog and timing-critical or datapath driven digital cores through UMC's Silicon Shuttle multi-chip test-wafer program," said Chip Stearns, CEO at picoTurbo, Inc. "Through UMC Gold IP Program, picoTurbo cores are now validated to provide IC designers with proven IP that will address their time-to-market issues and lower their design risk. We look forward to a long-term partnership with UMC."

picoTurbo Products:
picoTurbo has developed, designed and validated in silicon two microprocessor cores since its inception. These products have the capability of executing ARMR v4T instructions and do so with high-performance and energy efficiency. Proven in .25u and .18u silicon processes, the pT-100 and pT-110 offers designers new options that provide high throughput with integrated power management. Combining performance, speed, and cost efficiencies into a compact, high-performance, low-power design, the picoTurbo microprocessor series is a natural solution for applications where battery life and systems cost are critical design goals.

The pT-100 and pT-110 are available as soft cores, firm cores, and hard cores in multiple formats - including Verilog source code, encrypted RTL, gate-level netlists, and GDSII streams. The multiplicity of formats allows customers to change the aspect ratios of the layouts and port the cores to almost any IC process.

The ability to execute ARMRv4T instructions enables customers to leverage the third party software, RTOS and development tools that exist for the ARMRarchitecture avoiding costly retooling or unnecessary learning curves. PicoTurbo is providing the market and the customer with a logical choice: high performance, low power and low cost.

NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products; and technological and development risks.

About UMC
UMC, a world leading semiconductor foundry, operates fabs in Taiwan and Japan and has two 12-inch fabs under construction. UMC is a leader in foundry technology and expects capacity to reach 2.4 million wafers in 2000, with over half in advanced 0.18- and 0.25-micron technology. UMC's Worldlogic standard 0.13-micron technology is on target for introduction this year. UMC has marketing and customer support offices located in the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

About picoTurbo, Inc.
picoTurbo, Inc. is a pioneer in the embedded RISC microprocessor cores market segment specializing in the field of advanced wireless Internet devices. Known for their innovative and unique business models, picoTurbo delivers flexible porting solutions of Intellectual Property (IP) that combines efficient die size with high performance that results in a natural solution for applications where battery life and systems cost are critical design goals. Wireless Internet technology relies on the compact, cost-effective, high-performance, low-power system designs to meet the demanding product lifecycles of 3G phones and personal digital assistants. picoTurbo's advanced technology, coupled with picoTurbo's consulting, training, and support services, helps companies launch reliable technology initiatives quickly. picoTurbo solutions help companies of all sizes leverage existing investments and provide the foundation for running successful system development. picoTurbo is headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., and is on the Web at www.picoturbo.com.

picoTurbo is breaking new ground with RISC microprocessors that power the wireless Internet industry.
 

For More Information, Contacts:
 picoTurbo, Inc.
 Bruno Kajiyama / VP of Marketing
 408-586-4716
 408-586-8802 Fax
 bkajiyama@picoturbo.com

The trademark of ARM is a registered or common law trademark of ARM Holdings, Ltd., and is used herein solely for identification and comparison purposes.