TOPPERS Support Now Available for Tensilica’s Xtensa Processor

Sophia Systems and System LSI Provide Turnkey Development Services for TOPPERS

SANTA CLARA, Calif., and YOKOHAMA, Japan, July 7, 2003 – Tensilica, Inc., the leading supplier of configurable and extensible microprocessor cores, today announced that Sophia Systems and System LSI CO. Ltd. will provide support for TOPPERS (Toyohashi OPen Platform for Embedded Real-time Systems), a ITRON version 4.0 specification compliant RTOS (real-time operating system). Sophia Systems has developed a TOPPERS software development kit (SDK) for the Xtensa processor based on the Tensilica XT2000 processor emulation kit. Systems LSI, an authorized Tensilica design center, will provide customizations and custom driver development for Tensilica customers.

TOPPERS is a platform promoted by the Embedded and Real-Time Systems Laboratory of Nagoya University and voluntary organizations that are sharing with software development and maintenance. A key objective of the TOPPERS project is to develop many embedded software programs based on the ITRON specification. ITRON is very popular for use in a wide range of embedded systems from Internet access devices to games.

“The ITRON operating system has become a major RTOS and is being designed into a wide variety of our customers’ products,” stated Bernie Rosenthal, Tensilica’s Sr. Vice President of Marketing and Sales. “We are pleased that Sophia Systems and System LSI are working together to provide TOPPERS support for our customers.”

The TOPPERS SDK for the Xtensa processor is based on Tensilica’s XT2000 processor emulation kit, The XT2000 Emulation Kit is a comprehensive, low cost development tool that uses a programmable logic device to emulate a specific Xtensa processor configuration. The emulation kit enables the developer to evaluate various processor configuration options and to initiate software development and debug early in the design cycle. Designers can specify, implement, and debug a new processor configuration, including designer-defined instructions, in just hours.

TOPPERS SDK is a support service for engineers developing products using TOPPERS as their embedded OS. Sophia Systems understands the various problems that engineers will face when developing on new platforms and believes that TOPPERS SDK will be a great resource for those engineers. In addition, TOPPERS SDK includes the source code and necessary documents for installing TOPPERS.

In addition to providing the TOPPERS SDK, Sophia Systems offers the UniSTAC™ Xtensa (JTAG) In-Circuit Emulator, a development tool for custom ASICs containing the Xtensa processor with an On-Chip Debug interface for debugging. The UniSTAC Xtensa ICE provides TOPPERS kernel aware debugging enabling designers of Xtensa-based system-on-chip (SOC) designs to debug their systems and get new products to market quickly.

"We are very glad to co-operate with Tensilica,Inc. to provide and support TOPPERS SDK for the Xtensa processor. TOPPERS SDK will allow product developers to shorten their development time-to-market," said Mr. Tasuku Kashihira, President, Sophia Systems Co., Ltd.

Pricing and Availability

The TOPPERS SDK is available from Sophia Systems for 500,000 Yen and requires the Tensilica XT2000 emulation kit, which is priced at $20,000. It is available now.

About Sophia Systems

Sophia Systems sells and supports high-performance in-circuit emulators and debuggers for the development of embedded micro-computer systems. Tensilica has collaborated with Sophia Systems to create the UniSTAC Xtensa (JTAG) In-Circuit Emulator, a development tool for custom ASICs containing the Xtensa processor with an On-Chip Debug interface for debugging. More information is available at www.sophia.com.

About System LSI

System LSI Co. Ltd. was established in 1998 to provide design services, consulting, research and development, and educational services for major electronics companies in Japan. In addition, System LSI has developed several products including an ATA host/device controller for data storage, picture processing equipment, and an encryption module. More information is available at www.syslsi.com.

About Tensilica

Tensilica was founded in July 1997 to address the growing need for optimized, application-specific microprocessor solutions in high-volume embedded applications. With a configurable and extensible microprocessor core called Xtensa, Tensilica is the only company that has automated and patented the time-consuming process of generating a customized microprocessor core along with a complete software development tool environment, producing new configurations in a matter of hours. For more information, visit www.tensilica.com.

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Editors’ Notes:

• “Tensilica” and “Xtensa” are registered trademarks belonging to Tensilica Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
• Tensilica’s announced licensees are Agilent, Astute Networks, Avision, Bay Microsystems, Berkeley Wireless Research Center, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Conexant Systems, Cypress, ETRI, FUJIFILM Microdevices, Fujitsu Ltd., Hudson Soft, Hughes Network Systems, IC4IC, Ikanos Communications, JNI Corporation, Marvell, Mindspeed Technologies, National Semiconductor, NEC Laboratories America, NEC Corporation, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., ONEX Communications, OptiX Networks, Osaka & Kyoto Universities, S2io, Sony, TranSwitch Corporation, Trebia Networks, Victor Company of Japan (JVC) and ZiLOG.