In an industry that has traditionally seen clear lines of demarcation between design tools for hardware and software, this acquisition represents the first true "single-source" solution for electronics designers.

"The powerful combination of Protel and TASKING gives designers the opportunity to purchase both hardware design tools and software design tools from the same vendor—a first for a desktop EDA tool company," said Kayvan Oboudiyat, CEO of Protel International. "This move will further strengthen Protel’s position as the leading independent vendor of Windows-based, desktop EDA solutions."

The use of embedded microprocessors has become common-place in electronic design and more recently the industry has seen rapid moves towards "system-on-chip" design methodologies. This, combined with a convergence between hardware and software design tasks and a broadening of individual engineer’s coverage of design areas, leads to an increasing need for greater links between embedded hardware and software design environments. This acquisition, in conjunction with Protel’s recent entry into the programmable device (FPGA) design area, allows Protel to provide engineers with all the tools they need for virtually all electronic product design flows.

Frank Despomare, TASKING’s founder and Chairman stated, "We believe the joining of Protel and TASKING will provide our semiconductor partners with an opportunity to solve the long-standing problem of hardware and software integration." Scott Taitel, TASKING’s COO added, "Both customer bases are looking for powerful complete solutions to address next-generation electronic design challenges so they will greatly benefit from being able to purchase hardware design and software development tools from a single source."

Embedded software development has generally been treated by tool vendors as separate from hardware design. TASKING’s embedded software expertise and broad range of embedded systems products can be combined with Protel’s unique platform for the development of electronic design tools. This will create a significant opportunity to close the gap between electronics hardware and software design, which will enable engineers to benefit from the provision of a full set of electronic design tools from a single supplier, completely addressing their embedded systems design needs.

Protel’s aggressive strategies for growth and strong financial position, following a successful IPO in August 1999, serve to provide TASKING with a solid backing for the future. This joining of forces provides significant opportunities for both Protel and TASKING customers and further strengthens Protel’s position in providing a complete set of powerful, easy-to-use tools for the desktop electronic design market. Most importantly this will make the combined product offerings a highly attractive alternative to high-priced tools from workstation-focused EDA vendors.

The management teams of Protel and TASKING are now currently focusing on the seamless integration of the businesses and rapidly moving forward with the strategies to bring its leading brands to an even wider customer base, seeking out new areas of market penetration and continuing to strengthen its market leading position in the desktop arena.

TASKING customers will soon be mailed comprehensive information regarding the acquisition, with up-to-date details available from both Protel’s website at www.protel.com and TASKING’s website at www.tasking.com.

Protel International Limited (ASX: PRI) is a leading global developer and supplier of desktop electronic design automation (EDA) software for the Microsoft Windows environment. Protel software is used for electronic design and development across many industries including telecommunications, defence, medicine, science, and consumer electronics. Protel’s customer base includes Alcatel, BMW, Canon, CSIRO, Daimler Benz, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Motorola, NASA, NEC, Nokia, Philips, Sony and Telstra.

Protel is headquartered in Sydney, Australia and operates a number of sales and support offices in Australia, the United States, Japan and Europe. Protel also maintains a large reseller network in all other major markets.

Protel’s ongoing philosophy of "Making Electronic Design Easy"™ extends through every aspect of the Company’s efforts. Through constant technical innovation, aggressive pricing and a strong focus on the needs of our customers, Protel continues to demonstrate the strongest possible commitment to users of Windows-based desktop EDA tools. More information about the company and its products and services may be obtained at http://www.protel.com.

TASKING, The Embedded Communications CompanyÔ , brings together the software technology needed to compete in the embedded communications era. TASKING’s award-winning integrated development environment, compiler, debugger, embedded Internet and RTOS offerings support a wide range of DSPs and 8-, 16- and 32-bit microprocessors and microcontrollers for all areas of embedded communications. TASKING, founded in 1974, is a privately held company with headquarters in Dedham, Massachusetts, and engineering, sales and support offices in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK. TASKING's large installed user base includes the world's leading telecom, datacom, wireless and peripheral manufacturers. More information about TASKING can be found at www.tasking.com.