SpecC Technology Open Consortium Releases Open Source and Free Software Reference Compiler for SpecC Design Language Developed by UC Irvine's Center for Embedded Computer Systems

Offered as an open source, free-software, reference compiler puts SpecC in the public domain, promotes the development of an industry standard, and encourages the design tools industry.

Tokyo, Japan, June 12, 2001 - The SpecC Technology Open Consortium (STOC) announced today that UC Irvine's Center for Embedded Systems (CECS) has developed an open source reference compiler for SpecC. STOC has chosen CECS for development as well as for support and maintenance of the implementation and future upgrades. CECS has published a news release which is available at http://www.communications.uci.edu/releases/086tv01.html.

There have been many activities recently toward standardization in design technologies, with efforts to make them available as open source, free software, as with Linux and GNU. Following this model, the part of the design technology to be standardized is placed in the public domain in order to accelerate standardization and promote interoperability. Meanwhile, the part of the design technology which includes user support and design aid tools are left to the tool venders to develop. The release of the SpecC Reference Compiler brings this industry trend to the EDA space since the SpecC technology targets both the embedded systems and System on a Chip industries.

The reference compiler is available under the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license. This license is more suitable for commercial use than other license schemes such as the GNU Public License. Please refer to http://www.opensource.com/ for details.

"The release of the SpecC Reference Compiler is the first significant milestone towards acceptance of SpecC as the world standard specification language for system design. The SpecC language is most appealing to both hardware designers and software programmers for embedded systems since it is a simple extension of the world-standard programming language C supported by a well-defined design methodology," said Masahiro Fujita, professor at Tokyo University and chairman of the STOC SpecC Language Standardization Committee.

"It has been demonstrated within Motorola that SpecC methodology has the potential to dramatically improve productivity while increasing product quality," said Mike Olivarez, systems architect of Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector, which performed early experiments with the SpecC language.

This public release includes the compiler, simulator and test bench with binaries and open source codes. The SpecC Reference Compiler translates SpecC description to C++ description. The simulator is used for compilation and execution the C++ description. The test bench is ready to test the behaviors of the compilers and the simulator. All three are available the CECS web site , run by Professor Gajski, inventor of SpecC.

"Mentor Graphics congratulates STOC for implementing a reference compiler to clarify the Language Reference Manual. This should limit the interpretation of LRM by various implementations of the open standard. Credit goes to STOC members' willingness to take action and fund a reference implementation," Michael Chen, Product Line Director of SoC Verification at Mentor Graphics, stated.

CECS's SpecC Reference Compiler project is directly supported and funded by members of STOC. The SpecC Technology Open Consortium consists of leading hi-tech companies and design houses, such as Alpine; Cadence Design Systems; C-Level Design, Inc.; Co-Design Automation, Inc.; Conexant Systems, Inc.; Fujitsu; Gaio Technology Co.; Hitachi Ltd.; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.; Mitsubishi Corp.; Mentor Graphics; Motorola, Inc.; NEC Corp.; OKI Information Systems; Seiko Epson Corp.; Sharp; Sony Electronics; Toshiba; Toyota Motor Corp.; and Yamaha Motor Co.

Mr.Yukio Kunimine, President of Gaio Technology, Inc., said, "Gaio Technology heartily welcomes the release of the Open Source Design Compiler from STOC. Open source availability of infrastructure software shortens the time required for evaluation to develop a prototype. At the same time, it increases the opportunity for system tool vendors to develop a wider variety of original complementary tools. Gaio plans to develop tools to support the SpecC Compiler in order to promote the next generation design environment."

"I expect that a truly open reference compiler will contribute greatly to the advancement of technology and business of both the electronic device industry centered on embedded systems as well as to the design tool industry," stated Mr. Setsuo Yamamoto, President of InterDesign Technologies, Inc.

About SpecC language
Originally developed at University of California, Irvine, the SpecC language-specification description language based on C-is designed to support smooth overall integration of product development, from determining specifications to design implementation. SpecC language allows the same semantics and syntax to be used to represent specifications in a conceptual system, in hardware and software and, most importantly, in intermediate specifications and information during hardware and software co-design stages.

About CECS
The Center for Embedded Computer Systems (http://www.cecs.uci.edu) is an organized research unit at UCI focusing on embedded systems research and technology for wireless communications, medical and automotive applications, and for product-on-demand technology.

About STOC
The SpecC Technology Open Consortium (STOC) was established in 1999 by 24 companies and organizations world-wide for securing wide acceptance of a SpecC technology (methodology and language) that enhances development integration of the development process and that overcomes constraints on time-to-market and cost. The new methodology is expected to achieve significant productivity gains in the development of electronics products, including communications equipment, portable products, multimedia equipment, set-top boxes, and electronic control units. Activities of STOC will be made public at the consortium's web site at http://www.SpecC.org/, where the introduction of SpecC technology, the consortium's activities, and research results are available.

Press Contacts:

SpecC Technology Open Consortium Office