Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ:MENT) today announced that NXP Semiconductors has become part of the Mentor^® Embedded Nucleus® Innovate Program. Participants in the Nucleus Innovate program now have access to board support packages for NXP Semiconductor microcontroller devices.

The Nucleus Innovate Program targets businesses with less than $1M in annual revenue in order to help them kick-start their embedded development projects. Qualified companies can accelerate their embedded system development with software provided at no cost, including the Nucleus® Real Time Operating System (RTOS), the popular Sourcery™ CodeBench GNU toolchain, and now, 32-bit RISC ARM-based board support packages (BSP) for NXP’s LPC family of microcontrollers.

Board support packages are now available for NXP’s LPC 4300 devices with new BSPs soon available for LPC1700 and LPC1800 families. This broad range of NXP microcontrollers, from a global semiconductor leader and top supplier of ARM Cortex-M MCUs, allows users to maximize any embedded applications where speed and computational performance are essential. Applications for NXP32-bit devices include medical, industrial and portable products. When combined with the Nucleus ReadyStart platform, embedded developers have a complete embedded environment to develop their system designs with greater efficiency and productivity.

“The Nucleus Innovate Program offers great software value for our smaller customers who desire access to commercial embedded software tools for our LPC family of MCU devices,” said Jim Trent, vice president and general manager, NXP microcontroller business line. “The program introduces an exciting model targeted to small companies, startups, and entrepreneurs who want access to the highly deployed Nucleus RTOS and popular Sourcery CodeBench IDE development tools for the NXP LPC family of MCU devices.”

The Nucleus Innovate Program is ideal for applications where small footprint, high performance, and low power matter. Customers using 32-bit MCUs can apply the Nucleus RTOS and Mentor Embedded tool capabilities with ease and assurance. Easy-to-use demonstrations and configurations help shorten development time for medical, industrial, automotive and consumer applications—from days to minutes. Details on qualification and the software provided through the Nucleus Innovate Program are available at http://www.mentor.com/embedded-software/nucleus/innovate/nxp.

“Our Nucleus Innovate Program with NXP Semiconductors demonstrates our shared commitment for embedded product development by targeting start-ups and other small companies who need a competitive edge,” said Scot Morrison, general manager of runtime solutions, Mentor Graphics Embedded Software division. “Together with NXP, we expect to stimulate embedded innovation by providing our proven technologies which might otherwise be cost-prohibitive for smaller companies.”

About Mentor Embedded

The Mentor Graphics® Embedded Software Division enables embedded development for a variety of applications, including automotive, industrial, smart energy, medical devices, and consumer electronics. Embedded developers can create systems with the latest processors and micro-controllers with commercially supported and customizable Linux®-based solutions, including the industry-leading Sourcery CodeBench and Mentor Embedded Linux products. For real-time control, systems developers can take advantage of the small-footprint and low-power-capable Nucleus® RTOS. For more information, visit www.mentor.com/embedded.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic, semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues in the last fiscal year of about $1,015 million. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

(Mentor Graphics, Mentor and Nucleus are registered trademarks and Sourcery is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owner.)

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