DATE March 27-30, 2000, IMEC Booth #210, Embedded Systems Village; CoWare BOOTH #19,  Salle Maillot, Halle Maillot, Level 2, Palais des Congrès, Paris, FRANCE

Major Agreement Helps Commercialize Key IMEC Research

Paris, FRANCE – March 28, 2000 – IMEC, Leuven, Belgium, Europe's leading center for microelectronics research, has signed a long-term, wide-ranging technology access agreement with CoWare™, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif. USA, the leading provider of system-level design tools for complex systems-on-a-chip (SoC) development. Under the agreement, CoWare gets access to all IMEC design automation research.               

“One of our biggest challenges is balancing our need to respond to our customers’ near-term needs with evaluating and developing longer-term technology solutions. This agreement is indicative of the creative, 21st century thinking of IMEC’s management to solve this balancing act,” stated Guido Arnout, president and CEO of CoWare. “When IMEC collaborates with industry, it can be a big win-win for both. This agreement provides CoWare with access to a wealth of research. In turn, CoWare can provide IMEC researchers with an understanding of what the commercial world requires.”

“As one of the most successful IMEC spin-offs, we’re delighted to form a tight working relationship with CoWare,” stated Gilbert Declerck, president and CEO of IMEC. “Major advances in process technology are leading to the rapid development of innovative SoC solutions, which will result in new, smaller and more functional communications products in the future. A significant bottleneck to effective SoC design, however, is the lack of a common approach between developers of design methodology, EDA tool vendors and users/systems developers. We are starting a new model for technology exchange where we can collaborate, on a cost-effective basis, on advanced design methodologies that can easily be implemented in future design tools and commercialized faster.”

The agreement covers research in such important areas as hardware refinement, embedded software flow, low-power design and optimal memory usage. CoWare is currently evaluating the broad range of technology available through this agreement and can incorporate selected technology in future releases of its CoWare N2C™ design software.

The development of design methodologies for SoC is one of the key research areas for IMEC;  other areas involve developing process technologies, new packaging technologies and supporting overall training in the fields of microelectronics.

IMEC is one of the few research institutions in the world that has state-of-the-art wafer manufacturing facilities. IMEC, therefore, has practical experience in the entire IC design flow from concept to silicon. IMEC performs scientific research that typically runs three to 10 years ahead of industrial needs, with a view to practical applications. IMEC hopes that other companies that are developing innovative technology will look to IMEC as a key partner for mutual success.

In 1996, CoWare was founded to develop tools and a new methodology for hardware/software co-design that could significantly cut overall SoC design time and speed new products to market. In early 1998, CoWare introduced its CoWare N2C system-level design software, which is based on technology originally developed at IMEC.

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About IMEC

IMEC was founded in 1984 and today is Europe’s leading independent research center for the development and licensing of state-of-the-art microelectronic technologies. IMEC is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and employs about 900 people, of whom 75 percent are highly qualified scientists and engineers. Its $90 million revenue is derived from agreements and contracts with government agencies, aerospace and semiconductor industry companies worldwide. IMEC’s activities concentrate on design of integrated information and communication systems; silicon process technology; silicon technology and device integration; microsystems, components and packaging; advanced training in microelectronics. IMEC has a sub 0,25-micron 200-mm pilot line and is ISO 9001 certified. News from IMEC is located at www.imec.be.

About CoWare

CoWare, Inc., provides tools and methodologies that help engineering teams cut their system-on-a-chip design times in half. CoWare N2CÔ provides an efficient means to capture, analyze, and implement a system specification, with parallel development by hardware and software teams. In addition, CoWare N2C greatly enhances IP re-use and selection, further reducing design time. The CoWare N2C software is employed by major systems and semiconductor companies including Alcatel, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Sony and ST Microelectronics. CoWare is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. USA and employs 100 people. For more information, visit www.CoWare.com.

CoWare and CoWare N2C are trademarks of CoWare, Inc.

For further information:

Mindy Powers – CoWare, Inc.                                           

Tel.: +1 408 845 76 13       e-mail: mindy@CoWare.com  

Marianne Van den Broeck - IMEC

Tel.: +32 16 28 14 91         e-mail: Marianne@imec.be

Paula Jones – New Ideas in Communications                                         

Tel.: +1 650 967 37 11       e-mail: paula@newiic.com