MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., September 13, 1999 – Triscend Corp. today announced full production availability of the world's first Configurable System-on-Chip (CSoC) solution—the 8051 microcontroller based E5 CSoC device family and the FastChip Software Development System. Today for the first time, System-on-Chip (SoC) technology is available to all designers--whether they are working for Fortune 500 companies, or in the garage.

For many electronic system designers, System-on-Chip technology is beyond their reach because of the cost involved in producing a customized ASIC SoC device--in some cases exceeding half a million dollars. However, using Configurable System-on-Chip technology, these designers can create their own customized System-on-Chip device at the desktop, without any up-front costs.

A Configurable System-on-Chip device delivers a complete user-customizable system on a single 8051 microcontroller chip. Most of the system functions, including the microprocessor, bus, and memory are implemented as dedicated blocks in the silicon. Additionally, a CSoC device contains a matrix of embedded programmable logic, which allows a designer to add customized logic functions to enhance the pre-implemented silicon blocks in order to create a customized System-on-Chip right at the desktop.

"Today, many engineers are locked-out of System-on-Chip technology because the cost is well beyond their reach, and this trend will only worsen over time. With the full production release of our FastChip Software Development System and the E5 CSoC now shipping in production volumes, Triscend is able to provide SoC benefits to engineers beyond the limited few who can afford conventional SoC projects," said Stanley Yang, President and CEO of Triscend.

The E5 family is based on a dedicated, performance-enhanced 8051 microcontroller core providing 10MIPS performance at 40MHz. The family offers:

• Up to 64Kbytes of on-chip, dedicated system RAM,
• Up to 3,200 Configurable System Logic (CSL) programmable logic cells (approximately 40,000 logic gates),
• Dedicated internal bus offering 40Mbytes/s transfer rates,
• Stand-alone operation from a single external memory that holds the processor code and programmable logic configuration data.

The first E5 family member, the TE520, is now shipping in production volumes. Beginning in October 1999, Triscend will start sampling the TE505. The remaining E5 family members will be released in 2000.

* Configurable System Logic Cells

As previously announced, Triscend will also produce a CSoC family based on the ARM7TDMI (ARM7 with Thumb Extensions) processor core. This family is expected to sample in early 2000.

Completing the Triscend CSoC solution is the FastChip Software Development System. This Windows™ -based software development system manages the entire CSoC development flow--including support for "drag and drop" integration of soft logic modules into the configurable system logic, system-level debugging, and third-party tool integration. FastChip software provides seamless integration with third-party microprocessor development tools, thus preserving existing software development flow while leveraging the user’s existing code libraries. FastChip supports 8051 development and debugging tools from Keil Software and Archimedes Software (www.archimedesoftware.com). Other 8051 tool vendors will be added soon.

The FastChip software includes a library of user-parameterizable, pre-verified, pre-licensed, and predictable soft IP modules such as:

• Serial communication ports
• Programmable I/O
• Pulse-width modulators (PWM), and
• Embedded memories.

Additionally, Triscend FastChip software easily supports soft IP module library expansion from Triscend, CSoC users, or third-party developers. CSoC users and independent IP developers can create CSoC soft modules using standard EDA tools. Initially, logic synthesis support will be available through Synopsys  FPGA Express. Schematic capture support will be available for OrCad tools.

Pricing and Availability
The first E5 family member, the TE520 featuring 2048 CSL cells, 40Kbytes of system RAM and 251 user I/O, is available now in production volumes. The TE520 sells for under $25 in volume and $45 in 100 piece quantities. The second E5 device, the TE505, is scheduled to sample in October and is projected to sell for under $8 in high volumes in 2000. The FastChip Software Development System is priced at $495 and is available now. Triscend also offers a development board for the E5 family that is available today for $875.

Founded in 1997, Triscend Corporation is pioneering the Configurable System-on-Chip (CSoC)—a single-chip combination of a dedicated industry-standard microprocessor, programmable logic, memory and a dedicated system bus. The Triscend CSoC devices, along with the FastChip Development System, enable embedded systems designers to significantly reduce time-to-market without sacrificing product differentiation. Triscend products are sold direct and through distribution partners such as All American and Bell Micro in the US and Internix in Japan. Triscend is privately held and venture capital funded. The Company is headquartered at 301 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043.

Triscend, FastChip, E5, and The Configurable System-on-Chip Company are trademarks of Triscend Corporation. All other products or brands are the property of their respective holders.