Arkle Res Regulatory News (ARK)

11 Mar 2008 07:02

Arc International PLC11 March 2008 Media Contact:Jonah McLeodARC International+1 408 437 3477Jonah.Mcleod@arc.com ARC Introduces the World's First "Sonic Focus-Ready" Audio Subsystem, Setting New Standards for Sound Fidelity And Energy Efficiency SAN JOSE, Calif., and ST. ALBANS, England, March 11, 2008 - ARC International(LSE: ARK) today introduced the newest addition to its ARC(R) Sound Subsystemfamily, the ARC Sound 210E. This fully programmable, licensable solutionenables system-on-chip (SoC) designers to build devices that achievehigh-quality audio using a very low power budget. As with all ARC Subsystemproducts, the AS 210E is multi-standard and supports a wide range of populardigital audio formats. The ARC Sound 210E Subsystem also supports theaward-winning Sonic Focus audio post-processing software, and incorporates therecently introduced ARC Energy PROTM power management technology. This newsrelease is part of the introduction of ARC's new low power Energy PRO cores thatalso was announced today. Visit www.arc.com for more information. Targeting the Portable Multimedia Market The AS 210E Subsystem is ideal for the feature-rich portable multimedia player(PMP) market, which is one of the fastest growing segments of the consumerelectronics industry. According to Semico Research, over the next five yearsthis market will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent and havemore than 150 million annual unit shipments. Supporting and providinginnovative technology for chips targeting PMPs, such as Sonic Focus and EnergyPROTM, ARC intends to increase its growing share of this market by addressingtwo of the major issues of PMP devices - suboptimal audio quality and limitedplay time. Unique Capability The new AS 210E Subsystem's advanced Energy PROTM power management techniquesreduce power consumption by turning off the subsystem when no activity isregistered. Energy PRO techniques can also conserve power by adjusting operatingfrequency to match the workload of the device. If enabled by MQX software,Energy PRO can manage power to the entire chip. Not only do these techniqueslower the power consumption by over 40 percent when the device is in operation,but also cut power to almost nil when idle. In addition, the ARC Sound 210E Subsystem is completely pre-verified andpre-integrated. To reduce overall design effort and time to market, the AS 210Ecan be integrated in to the Cadence's Low-Power Solution EDA flow leveraging CPF(Common Power Format). Lastly, available with the ARC Sound 210E is a libraryof software codecs for popular audio formats such as MPEG-2/4 AAC and DolbyDigital, among others. "The new AS 210E Subsystem extends ARC's leadership in audio solutions byincorporating state-of-the-art low-power and sound enhancement technologies,"said Bill Jackson, vice president of marketing at ARC International. "And theSoC designer can build a differentiated solution that is energy efficient andprovides a better audio experience." Availability The ARC Sound 210E Subsystem and library of audio codecs are available forlicensing immediately. Contact ARC at info@arc.com or visit www.arc.com for moreinformation. # # # About ARC International plcARC International is the world leader in multimedia subsystems and configurableCPU/DSP processors. Used by over 140 companies worldwide, ARC's configurablesolutions enable the creation of highly differentiated system-on-chips (SoCs)that ship in hundreds of millions of devices annually. ARC's patentedsubsystems and cores are smaller, consume less power, and are less expensive tomanufacture than competing products. ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporate and research anddevelopment offices in San Jose and Lake Tahoe, Calif., St. Albans, England, andSt. Petersburg, Russia. For more information visit www.ARC.com. ARCInternational is listed on the London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc(LSE: ARK). ARC and the ARC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ARCInternational. All other brands or product names contained herein are theproperty of their respective owners. This press release may contain certain"forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including thedevelopment, implementation, and release of features described herein. These areat the sole discretion of ARC International. Licenses from 3rd parties forcertain software and essential patents may be required depending on licensee'suse/implementation. For other factors that could cause actual results to differ,visit the company's Website as well as the listing particulars filed with theUnited Kingdom Listing Authority and the Registrar of Companies in England andWales. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange