Accelerated Technology Works with Nucleus Developers to Enhance Networking Software

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2002--Accelerated Technology®, the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT), today announced the Nucleus(TM) NET 5.1 tool, a major upgrade of the Nucleus networking product.

Accelerated Technology has spent two years working diligently with networking customers to include features in Nucleus NET tailored to the needs of developers of embedded real-time applications.

The updates to Nucleus NET 5.1 are numerous. More than eight new Application Program Interface (API) services have been added, including support for a zero copy API. One of the more expensive operations in any TCP/IP protocol stack is the copying of data as the data traverses the various protocol layers that make up the stack. The zero copy API eliminates the overhead of moving the data around in memory. In lab tests, the average throughput improved by 25 percent when using the zero copy API. This increased performance is particularly important for today's network applications because bandwidth has increased at such a fast rate that CPUs often are unable to keep up with the flow of data.

With the growth in the volume of data carried over networks, it is not uncommon for routes to enter a state of congestive collapse. Congestive collapse results when network links are heavily utilized but very little beneficial work is performed. To address this problem, Nucleus NET 5.1 has added support for four congestion control algorithms: congestion avoidance, slow start, fast retransmit and fast recovery. Together, these algorithms allow Nucleus NET applications to adapt to a wide range of network bandwidths.

Memory is usually a scarce resource in embedded systems. To attack this problem, Nucleus NET 5.1 is even more scalable than previous versions. Nucleus NET can now be configured to be as small as approximately 33K bytes or as large as 133K bytes, depending on the services required by the application. This flexible configuration allows Nucleus NET to scale down for use in devices that require only the most basic network connectivity and scale upwards to a full-featured protocol stack.

Customers who upgrade to Nucleus NET will notice numerous other improvements and additions to Nucleus NET. In particular, hooks have been added for support of Nucleus Internet Protocol (IP) version 6, a network layer protocol that allows messages to be routed to a different network or subnet. IPv6 is the next generation IP layer that will gradually replace IPv4.

"From the beginning, Accelerated Technology has been committed to broadening support for networking applications. This shows in the breadth of networking protocols that we now support within Nucleus NET. This release of Nucleus NET improves upon the previous version in nearly every way imaginable -- performance, scalability, robustness and added features," said Robert Day, director of marketing for the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics.

Availability and Pricing

Nucleus embedded software is sold with source code and without royalty fees. Licenses for Nucleus NET begin at $14,495. For more information, please contact Accelerated Technology at 800/468-6853.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $600 million and employs approximately 3,700 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Accelerated Technology, the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation, is located in Mobile, Alabama with sales offices and distributors worldwide. By providing embedded systems developers with a focus on service, well-documented source code and industry leading non-royalty based Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) software, AT's RTOS software shortens time-to-market and provides a complete solution for engineers. For more information, please visit www.acceleratedtechnology.com or email us at info@acceleratedtechnology.com.

Mentor Graphics and Accelerated Technology are registered trademarks and Nucleus is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

     Accelerated Technology
     Jennifer Whiddon, 251/661-5770 ext 5032
     jwhiddon@acceleratedtechnology.com
     or
     Mentor Graphics
     Suzanne Graham, 503/685-7789
     suzanne_graham@mentor.com