Tensilica's Xtensa LX Processor Beats All Other 32- and 64-bit Processor Cores On EEMBC Consumer "Out of the Box" Benchmark

Nearly 9X Performance Advantage per MHz Over ARM1020E; Over 5X as Fast as SuperH 64-bit Core

SANTA CLARA, Calif.– May 18, 2004 – Tensilica, Inc. today announced that its new Xtensa LX configurable processor core has received the highest certified out-of-the-box score ever recorded for any 32-bit or 64-bit processor core tested against the Consumer benchmark suite of the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC). The Xtensa LX processor’s score of 0.51997 per MHz, which translates to 171.6 Consumermarks in a 330-MHz simulation, was nearly nine times faster than the next best 32-bit device and over five times as fast as the fastest 64-bit RISC CPU tested by EEMBC.

“The out of the box scores are a good test of compiler performance,” stated Markus Levy, EEMBC president. “The more C friendly the processor, the better the score, as the processor vendor is not allowed to modify the original EEMBC source code. The exceptional results for the Xtensa LX processor show that Tensilica has developed some very advanced compiler technology.”

The EEMBC Consumer benchmark suite is a compilation of five separate benchmark kernels that are representative of consumer digital imaging applications. The high-pass grey-scale filter benchmark demonstrates performance in front-end processing of digital still cameras, showcasing 2-D data array and multiply/accumulate capabilities. The JPEG compression and decompression benchmarks take still images from full source data captured from a sensor, compress to a JPEG file format for data storage, and reconvert back to full image representation, a common set of tasks in consumer products such as digital still cameras and digital video camcorders. The RGB to CYMK conversion benchmark demonstrates a common conversion used in color printing. The RGB to VIQ conversion benchmark demonstrates a conversion used in NTSC encoders for digital video processing.

“Our superior out of the box results in the EEMBC Consumer benchmark showcase the enhancements we’ve made to our compiler to optimize standard C code,” stated Bernie Rosenthal, Tensilica’s senior vice president of marketing and sales. “We selected the Consumer benchmark to be our first published EEMBC benchmark with this new technology because we are servicing a rapidly increasing group of customers with challenging multimedia and imaging-related applications.”

About EEMBC
EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, develops and certifies real-world benchmarks and benchmark scores to help designers select the right embedded processors for their systems. Every processor submitted for EEMBC benchmarking is tested for parameters representing different workloads and capabilities in communications, networking, consumer, office automation, automotive/industrial, embedded Java, and microcontroller-related applications. With members including leading semiconductor, intellectual property, and compiler companies, EEMBC establishes benchmark standards and provides certified benchmarking results through the EEMBC Certification Labs (ECL).

About Tensilica
Tensilica was founded in July 1997 to address the growing need for optimized, application-specific microprocessor solutions in high-volume embedded applications. With a configurable and extensible microprocessor core called Xtensa, Tensilica is the only company that has automated and patented the time-consuming process of generating a customized microprocessor core along with a complete software development tool environment, producing new configurations in a matter of hours. For more information, visit www.tensilica.com.

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• Tensilica and Xtensa are registered trademarks belonging to Tensilica Inc.
• Tensilica’s announced licensees include Agilent, ALPS, AMCC (JNI Corporation), Astute Networks, Avision, Bay Microsystems, , Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Conexant Systems, Cypress, Crimson Microsystems, ETRI, FUJIFILM Microdevices, Fujitsu Ltd., Hudson Soft, Hughes Network Systems, Ikanos Communications, LG Electronics, Marvell, NEC Laboratories America, NEC Corporation, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., S2io, Solid State Systems, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Stretch Inc., TranSwitch Corporation, and Victor Company of Japan (JVC).