EPI and ARM extend strategic alliance

<%=company2%> and Embedded Performance, Inc. (EPI), a leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessors, announced that they have signed an agreement that gives EPI the rights to distribute the ARM Developer Suite (ADS) through its worldwide sales network. This new distribution agreement extends the original strategic alliance agreement made by the two companies in 1996.

"ARM is pleased to expand our successful relationship with EPI to fully support the rapidly increasing amount of design activity of ARM core-based systems," said Derek Morris, General Manager of Development Tools for ARM. "We are confident that developers will be provided with best-in-class development support as part of the EPI total system-on-chip software design solution."

Under the new agreement, EPI will market, distribute and support the ADS software package as part of its extensive list of software development and debugging tools for the ARM microprocessor architecture. EPI will provide application support for the software through its worldwide network of factory-trained support centers. The company will stock the software packages both at its factory in the U.S. and at distributor locations in Europe and Asia to assure prompt delivery to its customers.

"The global market for the ARM architecture is growing rapidly," said Norbert Laengrich, EPI's CEO. "The addition of the ADS software allows us to continue the rapid expansion of our product line. The ARM RealTrace technology suite, a recently-introduced option available with ADS, complements our new MAJIC^PLUS emulation probe and allows us to provide a highly integrated development and debug environment to our customers."

EPI offers a wide selection of products for the ARM architecture, from software toolkits to development boards to intelligent emulation probes. The company also has alliances with many of the partners in ARM's Global Technology Network including Accelerated Technology, Inc., Atmel, Cirrus Logic, Link-up Systems, Motorola, NETsilicon, PalmChip, Philips, Samsung, Triscend, Virata, and Wind River.

Edited by Bruce A. Bennett
Managing Editor, Embedded Technology.com