Press Release - ARC International expands distribution of configurable SoC platform technologies in UK and Ireland

Distribution deal with Direct Insight Ltd provides developers reduced risk and decreased time-to-market for embedded systems based on ARCtangent™ and third-party microprocessors

Elstree, UK, October 9th, 2002: ARC International (LSE: ARK), a world leader in configurable System-on-Chip (SoC) platform technologies, today announced its appointment of Direct Insight Ltd as distributor for ARC's software product line in the UK and Ireland. ARC's powerful software suite of development tools greatly reduce design risks and decrease time-to-market for embedded systems based on the 32-bit RISC/DSP ARCtangent™ microprocessor core architecture, as well as third-party microprocessors including ARM®, ColdFire®, MIPS®, PowerPC® and XScale™.

The new agreement follows the integration of ARC's subsidiaries and products under the ARC International brand. Direct Insight already held a successful relationship with ARC's former subsidiary, Precise Software Technologies Inc, a provider of application-software platforms.

The renewed relationship has expanded Direct Insight's product offering beyond ARC's Precise/MQX™ RTOS and communications software stacks, to include all of ARC's software products, such as the MetaWare® High C/C++™ compiler and SeeCode™ debugger. Doug Bruce, director of worldwide software sales at ARC International said "We are very pleased to have renewed our relationship with Direct Insight as we have mutually enjoyed a very successful relationship in the past. Going forward Direct Insight will continue to be an important element in ARC International's network of distributors for our software products as we position ourselves for continual growth in Europe."

David Pashley, managing director at Direct Insight said: "ARC International is a forward-thinking, innovative and professional company, and we are very happy to be extending our partnership with them. Exciting new products are being introduced which enable us to offer a highly competitive integrated development platform for key target processors."

The 32-bit RISC/DSP ARCtangent microprocessor core architecture is an ideal choice for highly flexible and low cost ASIC, SoC, ASSP and FPGA designs for communications and consumer products. With its low power consumption and superior computational performance, it is a leading choice for variety of embedded system applications throughout the world.