IMEC EUROPRACTICE And Virtual Silicon Extend IP Sourcing Agreement to 130 NM

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2003--Virtual Silicon, Inc., and IMEC EUROPRACTICE IC Services announced today the extension of their partnership to include 130nm semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) from Virtual Silicon for use in Europractice's multi-project wafer and low-volume ASIC services. Products included in the agreement are standard cells, basic I/O, PLL, application specific I/O (LVDS, SSTL2, PCI-X, USB 1.1, HSTL and PCI 2.2) and memories.

Virtual Silicon has been the exclusive SIP supplier to IMEC for UMC's 0.25-micron and 0.18-micron logic process. IMEC is licensed to distribute front-end design kits of Virtual Silicon IP to its more than 500 customers as part of its EUROPRACTICE CD-ROM design kit package. Additionally, IMEC offers a wide variety of value-added services including training, logic design and partitioning, back-end ASIC physical design, tape-out assistance, packaging and testing services.

"With more than 120 designs successfully taped out over the last 3 years in UMC's 0.25 micron, 0.18 micron and 130 nm, our partnership with IMEC makes Virtual Silicon SIP the clear standard in Europe among industry, research and academic institutions," said John A. Ford, vice president of marketing for Virtual Silicon.

"Virtual Silicon's unique products enable EUROPRACTICE to offer the highest quality, most advanced IP as part of our value-added service offering to customers throughout the world," said Dr. Carl Das, director of EUROPRACTICE IC Manufacturing and Testing Service for IMEC. "Virtual Silicon's comprehensive product offering bridges the gap between the EDA tools and the pure-play foundries so that we can focus on customer needs. In particular, our licensing agreement with Virtual Silicon gives customers immediate access to the front-end design kits and so shortens the design cycle."

About Virtual Silicon Technology

Virtual Silicon is a leading supplier of SIP and process technology to manufacturers and designers of complex systems-on-chip (SoC). Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, the company provides process-specific embedded components that serve the wireless, networking, graphics, communication and computing markets. Customers include leading fabless semiconductor companies, integrated semiconductor manufacturers, foundries, and SoC developers who demand leading edge technology for their semiconductor innovations. For more information, call 408-548-2700 or visit Virtual Silicon online at www.virtual-silicon.com.

About IMEC

IMEC (Inter-university MicroElectronics Center) was founded in 1984 and today is Europe's largest independent research center in the field of microelectronics, nanotechnology, enabling design methods and technologies for ICT systems. IMEC's activities concentrate on the design technology for integrated information and communication systems; silicon process steps and modules, silicon processes; nanotechnology, microsystems, components and packaging; solar cells; and advanced training in microelectronics. IMEC is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and has a staff of more than 1250 people including over 380 industrial residents and guest researchers. Its revenue of more than 138Meuro is derived from agreements and contracts with the Flemish government and companies, equipment and material suppliers and semiconductor and system-oriented companies worldwide, the EC, MEDEA+ and ESA. News from IMEC is located at www.imec.be.

About Europractice IC Service

Europractice IC Service was set up in 1995 as part of a project by the European Commission to stimulate use by European industry and universities of advanced IC technologies. The Europractice service, run by a consortium headed by IMEC, offers industry and academia a fully supported, affordable route to IC design, prototyping, and small and medium volume production. Annually, about 500 designs are prototyped and 130 small volume projects are manufactured at leading IC manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.europractice.imec.be.

The Heart of Great Silicon, Silicon Ready and Virtual Silicon are trademarks of Virtual Silicon Technology, Inc.

CONTACT: Virtual Silicon 
             John A. Ford, 408-548-2737 
             johnf@virtual-silicon.com 
              or
             VitalCom Marketing and PR
             Lou Covey, 650-637-8212 x202
             lou@vitalcompr.com
              or
             IMEC
             Katrien Marent, (32) 16-28-18-80
             marentk@imec.be