UMC/VIRAGE TO ENABLE OPTIMAL IP AND CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR UMC.

UMC (NYSE:UMC), a world-leading semiconductor foundry and Virage Logic Corporation (NASDAQ:VIRL), a pioneer in Silicon Aware IP(TM) and leading provider of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) platforms, have announced an agreement where Virage Logic will extend its IP and circuit design expertise to jointly work with UMC to enable optimal IP development for UMC's 65nm process technology. This early engagement partnership will help accelerate adoption of UMC's next generation technology platform and provide a predictable roadmap for enhancements of key IP structures such as memory bit cells.

"UMC's strong commitment to technical leadership is underscored with this agreement," said Alex Shubat, chief technical officer of Virage Logic. "Because critical IP design intent has been factored in from the start, the resulting process will provide for optimal area, performance, power and yield much sooner than with traditional process development flows."

The agreement calls for Virage Logic to collaborate and consult with UMC's technology and design support teams to analyze process parameters critical for design of key IP elements such as memory, logic and I/Os in order to optimize area, speed, performance and manufacturing yield of System-on-Chips (SoCs).

"At 65nm, design experts and process technology teams need to synchronize much earlier than previous generations to address the new challenges brought by the increasing complexities of deep sub-micron technology nodes," said Patrick T. Lin, chief SoC architect, System and Architecture Support Group, UMC. "Virage Logic's expertise and understanding of the relationship between advanced process parameters and semiconductor IP requirements will be a valuable asset to this effort, and we look forward to their contributions to help accelerate the acceptance of our 65nm process."

About UMC

UMC is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SOC) designs, including 90nm copper, 0.13um copper, and mixed signal/RFCMOS. UMC is also a leader in 300mm manufacturing; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. UMC employs approximately 10,500 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States.

For more information, visit http://www.umc.com.

About Virage Logic Corporation

Founded in 1996, Virage Logic Corporation rapidly established itself as a technology and market leader in providing advanced embedded memory intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated circuits. Today the company is a global leader in semiconductor IP platforms comprising embedded memories, logic, and I/Os and is pioneering the development of a new class of IP called Silicon Aware IP. Silicon Aware IP tightly integrates Physical IP (memory, logic and I/Os) with the embedded test, diagnostic, and repair capabilities of Infrastructure IP to help ensure manufacturability and optimized yield at the advanced process nodes. Virage Logic's highly differentiated product portfolio provides higher performance, lower power, higher density and optimal yield to foundries, integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and fabless customers who develop products for the consumer, communications and networking, hand-held and portable, and computer and graphics markets. The company uses its FirstPass-Silicon(TM) Characterization Lab for certain products to help ensure high quality, reliable IP across a wide range of foundries and process technologies. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Virage Logic has R&D, sales and support offices worldwide.

For more information, visit http://www.viragelogic.com or call 510/743-8115.