ARM Launches New ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform

CAMBRIDGE, England, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, today launched the ARM11(TM) PrimeXsys(TM) Platform at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, Calif. The ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform is powered by the new ARM1136J-S(TM) microprocessor core, which was also announced today (ARM Sets Performance Standard with Two New ARM Cores ... Oct. 14, 2002) and provides a standard framework for all ARM11 core-based designs.

The ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform provides system developers with all of the hardware, software and verification IP necessary to design a system-on-chip (SoC) solution for smart digital devices running RTOSs and open operating systems (OS) such as Linux, Palm OS v5, Symbian OS, VxWorks and Windows CE.net. The hardware is tightly integrated with the ARM1136J-S microprocessor core and its software development tools include extendible software models of the platform that allow software designers to work in parallel with hardware development. In addition, the PrimeXsys Verification Methodology enables faster integration, verification and validation of a hardware and software system, further reducing time-to-market.

As with all ARM intellectual property (IP), the ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform has been designed for ease of reuse to enable developers to leverage multiple product designs from the same base point.

"We are committed to providing highly integrated IP platforms to our Partners. The PrimeXsys platform standard framework provides significant quality gains as well as cost and time savings, enabling our Partners to bring leading-edge digital devices to market more quickly," said Ian Thornton, PrimeXsys product manager, ARM. "The ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform provides the best possible starting point for ARM11 core-based designs; it has been developed alongside the core itself and all hardware and software has been integrated and validated."

"Embedded developers are demanding feature-rich, high-performance, low- power microprocessors for Windows Powered Devices," said Keith White, senior director of the Embedded and Appliance Platforms Group at Microsoft Corp. "Combined with Windows CE .NET, the availability of the ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform provides original equipment manufacturers with a cost-efficient solution for quickly developing the next generation of smart devices."

"The world's leading handset producers take advantage of Symbian OS and the ARM architecture in developing their highly differentiated and advanced data-enabled mobile phones," said Mark Wilce, vice president, Product Management, Symbian Ltd. "The ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform and the ARM1136J-S microprocessor core have benefited from the on-going collaborative development relationship between Symbian and ARM to optimize architectures for the mobile market. The PrimeXsys Platform initiative enables Symbian OS licensees and silicon partners to reduce significantly time-to-market and product development risk."

Technical Details

The ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform is based around the ARM1136J-S core or the ARM1136JF-S(TM) core, providing performance up to 400 MHz worst case in 0.13u, and enables full support for all the features of the ARM11 family cores, including:

• Four 64-bit ports connected to memory controller supporting 32-bit DDR
• 32-bit private bus for peripherals only available to the ARM11 core to ensure minimum latencies
• Direct connection from the vectored interrupt controller into the ARM11 microprocessor's interrupt registers for faster response to interrupts
• Synchronous and asynchronous clocking supported -- target bus speed is 167 MHz (0.18um)

    In addition, the ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform includes:
    --  Development tools to create and validate customized 64/32-bit bus
        infrastructure
    --  Support for DDR, SDRAM, ROM, flash and synchronous flash memory
    --  Support for MBX HR-S and MBX R-S, ARM's 3D graphics engine
    --  All the IP necessary to boot and run an OS
    --  BSPs for Windows CE .NET and Symbian OS 7.0 and VxWorks
    --  Verification tools based on the PrimeXsys verification strategy

    Availability
    The ARM11 PrimeXsys Platform is available for licensing now from ARM.

About ARM

ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-on-chip designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, handheld computing, multimedia, digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com .