Siroyan to offer "test drive" of high-performance DSP core through Sonics' web-based SOCworks evaluation environment

Agreement to provide SOC designers with free access for research and try-outs of ingenious clustered DSP technology

Mountain View, CA and Reading, UK - July 25, 2002 - Siroyan, the high performance DSP IP company, today announced an agreement with SMART Interconnect IP provider Sonics Inc. that will add the former's scalable DSP technology to SOCworks, the web-based SOC evaluation and simulation environment. Under the terms of the agreement, SOC designers will get free access to Siroyan's recently launched SRA328 DSP core to assess performance and interoperability. Using the actual IP core, together with a wide range of products from numerous vendors, exploratory system architectures and stimulus can be assembled and simulated on the site in just a few hours.

SOCworks is a dynamic B2B (business-to-business) environment that accelerates the process of locating and evaluating commercially available semiconductor IP cores by enabling their remote assembly into models of targeted SOC applications for full chip data flow simulations. Unlike portal or catalog sites that simply use the internet to improve information access, or ASP sites that deliver alternative access models to existing tools or processes, SOCworks provides designers with all the elements needed to engineer new value by architecting and validating their applications.

"SOCworks aims to consolidate semiconductor IP cores from the world's premier vendors into a meaningful exploration and evaluation environment without cost to users. We are extremely pleased to be welcoming Siroyan to our on-line library of IP suppliers", said Grant Pierce, president and CEO of Sonics. "With Siroyan's high performance DSP offering, SOCworks users will be able to easily explore and evaluate a new breed of innovative, high performance communications products."

"Siroyan's unique clustering technology provides SOC designers with unparalleled DSP power, and yet offers remarkable flexibility by enabling the designer to select the performance, cost and power consumption parameters that are best suited to each design," said Adrian Wise, chief technology officer at Siroyan. "By using SOCworks' plug-and-play capabilities, designers will be able to explore commercial solutions in context with their design vision. The benefits of our technology will become obvious for the designer within just a few hours of starting the SOC design."

Siroyan's OneDSP architecture is the first to offer high-end, scalable DSP performance through its unique VLIW clustering technology. Exploiting instruction-level parallelism, it provides up to 32 execution-unit clusters to be implemented by the licensee with either 32 or 64-bit data paths. At 200MHz, OneDSP will scale from 400 MMACs, with just the master cluster deployed, through to 25,600 MMACs, with a full complement of 32 clusters.

The OneDSP architecture is delivered as a synthesizable core in RTL and is supported in a standard EDA development environment. The first core, designated SRA328, can be configured with up to 8 execution-unit clusters with 32-bit data-paths, includes an integrated debug port and DMA, and supports the industry standard OCP interface allowing it to be simply interfaced with conventional busses, or with on-chip micronetworks such as Sonics SMART Interconnect. The fully qualified SRA328 soft core, together with the OneDSP C-Compiler and tool chain, is available now and offers a peak performance of up to 12.8 billion operations per second.

Sonics' SMARTsolutions Initiative comprises a cluster of programs focused on accelerating the creation of higher complexity SOCs. In addition to the SOCworks interactive web site for online exploration and simulation of third party IP cores within SOC application platforms; SMARTsolutions programs include the SOCservices program of preferred design services partners, as well as numerous associated training and services programs to ensure Sonics MicroNetwork licensees can effectively exploit all the benefits of a smart interconnect-based SOC design.

About Siroyan
Siroyan's vision of becoming the industry-standard DSP IP supplier began with the OneDSP program in 1999, following an intensive research study. This two-year program, involving over 800 design engineers in 150 different companies, ascertained the architecture and IP delivery model the company needed to take technology design to the next level of performance. The OneDSP architecture is the first to use VLIW clustering techniques to provide unparalleled DSP power, and integrate high-performance RISC functionality. Delivered as a family of synthesizable cores specifically for SoC deployment, and supported in a standard EDA development environment, Siroyan offers designers the performance and flexibility required for demanding next-generation applications. Headquartered in Reading, UK, the company is privately owned, and employs some 50 technical and commercial staff at its HQ and Design Centres.

About Sonics, Inc.
Sonics, Inc. is a premier developer of intelligent semiconductor intellectual property (IP) solutions that dramatically accelerate complex system-on-chip (SOC) designs while minimizing risk. The Sonics Methodology and Architecture for Rapid Time-to market (SMART) initiative is a comprehensive collection of products, services and partnerships to ensure customer success when utilizing Sonics' SMART Interconnect IP. SMART users can develop devices with higher functionality, lower power consumption and lower cost while achieving greater SOC complexity faster. Major semiconductor and systems companies have embraced Sonics SMART products for SOC applications in the communications, networking and multimedia markets, often reporting better than six-month design time savings with reduced design and manufacturing risks. For more information, see www.sonicsinc.com