VaST Systems Technology Announces Availability of the Renesas SH2A Virtual Processor Model

SUNNYVALE, California, April 18, 2006 -- VaST Systems Technology Corporationpowering embedded design innovationtoday announced the availability of the VaST SH2AVPM, a virtual processor model of the SH2A CPU core from Renesas Technology.  This latest model further demonstrates the progress of the VaST Universe program. VaST Universe is an initiative, comprised of VaST and semiconductor suppliers, to develop and deliver Virtual 1st SiliconTM.  Virtual 1st Silicon is a high-speed, cycle-accurate software model of a system on chip (SoC) that enables full software development well in advance of actual first silicon.

The Renesas SH2A core is a high performance (2.0MIPS/MHz) superscalar embedded core for automotive powertrain and digital audio applications. The SH2A features improved execution performance, faster interrupt response, and smaller object file sizes.

The VaST SH2AVPM is a high speed and cycle-accurate model of the Renesas SH2A CPU. VaST worked closely with Renesas in the development and verification of this model, which executes at speeds of up to 165 MIPS on VaSTs standard benchmarking platform and test suite. This model, in conjunction with device peripheral models (additional peripheral models for SH-2A are under development), and VaSTs virtual system prototyping tools provides a complete environment for architectural exploration and early software development. "In addition, the VaST SH2AVPM can be integrated with the Renesas High Performance Embedded Workshop (HEW) tools, which allows easier use by software developers since they can use the same familiar compilers and debuggers for virtual prototyping through hardware bring-up," said Yoshihiro Hayashi, senior manager, automotive application engineering department at Renesas. As a result of the success of this project, Renesas plans to expand the use of VaST tools across other products and cores.

The automotive industry is experiencing significant growth in vehicle electronics and software content. The work that VaST has done with Renesas, a leading automotive semiconductor supplier, shows our commitment to partnering to deliver advanced solutions for our mutual customers. VaST looks forward to continued collaboration with Renesas to develop and deliver even more productive solutions for our customers, said Alain Labat, VaSTs president and CEO.

About VaST

VaST Systems Technology Corporation tools and models enable the creation of a virtual system prototypea cycle-accurate software model of a system that operates at near real-time speeds under actual software loads. Solutions from VaST are used for architecture analysis and optimization and for the concurrent development of hardware and software. VaST virtual system prototypes dramatically improve time to market and quality while reducing development costs and risk.

Current customers include worldwide leaders in semiconductors, automotive electronics, wireless devices, and consumer electronics. VaST is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with sales and support offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.vastsystems.com.