Actel Corporation Licenses ARM Cortex-M3 Processor
Extended partnership builds on success of soft ARM7
family processor for FPGAs
MOUTAIN VIEW, Calif., and CAMBRIDGE, UK, October 04, 2006 —
Actel
Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTL) and ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)] today announced
at the ARM Developers' Conference, Santa Clara, Calif., that Actel, a leader
in single-chip field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), has licensed the ARM® Cortex™-M3
processor. The agreement further strengthens the partnership established
in March 2005 between the companies, which resulted in Actel's CoreMP7,
a soft ARM7™ family processor core optimized for implementation in
Actel's FPGAs. The combination of ARM and Actel technologies brings the flexibility,
fast time-to-market, and low implementation cost of FPGAs to ARM users and
others who previously could not justify the expense of ASIC implementation
for their application.
"Since its introduction last year, we have seen a great deal of interest
in our CoreMP7 processor from companies across the globe, reflecting the
desire for FPGA flexibility combined with an industry-standard processor
architecture," said Dennis Kish, senior vice president, sales and marketing,
Actel. "Moving forward, we are committed to exploring current and next-generation
ARM technologies that will continue to benefit our customers, thereby increasing
the choices available and enabling designers to reduce costs and improve
performance."
The ARM Cortex-M3 processor is designed to provide a high-performance, low-cost
solution that meets the needs of minimal memory implementation, reduced pin
count and low-power consumption, while delivering outstanding computational
performance and exceptional system response to interrupts.
"The ARM architecture, ARM quality and the ARM Connected Community
has long been the choice of ASIC/ASSP designers. Through our partnership
with Actel, we are successfully offering these advantages to FPGA designers,
a previously unaddressed embedded community," said Graham Budd, EVP
and general manager, Processor Division, ARM. "Our continuing partnership
with Actel further solidifies ARM's commitment to building on its success
in the FPGA market."
About ARM
ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products,
from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging applications.
ARM's comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors,
data engines, 3D processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals,
software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed
connectivity products. Combined with the company's broad Partner community,
they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to
market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available
at http://www.arm.com.
About the ARM Connected Community
The ARM Connected Community is a global network of companies aligned to
provide a complete solution, from design to manufacture and end use, for
products based on the ARM architecture. ARM offers a variety of resources
to Community members, including promotional programs and peer-networking
opportunities that enable a variety of ARM Partners to come together to provide
end-to-end customer solutions. For more information, please visit http://www.arm.com/community.
About Actel
Actel Corporation is the leader in single-chip FPGA solutions. The Company
is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol ACTL and is headquartered
at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, Calif., 94043-4655. For more information
about Actel, visit http://www.actel.com.
Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835).
Contact: Ferda Mehmet, A&R Edelman, 415.308.7877
