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ECL Announces New EEMBC 1.1 Release: Massive Overhaul Supports Windows, Linux, Solaris, Cygwin.

Benchmarking for EEMBC Members said to be never easier!

Austin, Texas USA - August 5, 2002. ECL has announced availability of EEMBC Version 1.1 Beta 3. It will be available for download by EEMBC members on August 9, 2002 on the EEMBC website. Based on a new consolidated Portable Test Harness Architecture that includes support for Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Linux, Solaris, and Cygwin's gcc build environments, the EEMBC 1.1 benchmarks are dramatically easier to port to embedded targets.

EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium http://www.eembc.org is the industry-standard embedded benchmarking consortium. Comprised of over 55 semiconductor and software tools (compilers, RTOS) companies from around the world, EEMBC's industry standard benchmarks include applications spaces such as Automotive/Industrial, Consumer, Networking, Office Automation, Telecommunications, and the 8/16 Bit Microcontroller Suites.

ECL, the EEMBC Certification Laboratories http://www.ebenchmarks.com is an independent third-party certification lab that verifies all EEMBC member benchmark scores. ECL is one of the leaders in the EEMBC Community, and its Chairman and CTO, Alan R. Weiss , is the volunteer EEMBC Technical Advisory Board (TechTAG) Chairperson.

"EEMBC 1.1 includes hundreds of improvements and a new architecture that will allow EEMBC members to port to microprocessors, DSP's, and microcontrollers in less than a third of the time it took using EEMBC 1.0", declared Mr. Weiss. "EEMBC's TechTAG has approved the 1.1 code base, and ECL met our schedule for Final Release of 1.1 by the October 1, 2002 deadline established by the EEMBC Board of Directors", he said.

"EEMBC, and its members, are delighted with the development work ECL has done to build a solid platform to support benchmarking and certification", stated EEMBC President Markus Levy. "Combined with the help of EEMBC members within the Technical Advisory Group, the Consortium has really taken a leap ahead in terms of ease of use and porting. This work is directly applicable to work also being done by TechTAG and ECL on EEMBC Version 2", Levy said.

"It was vitally important that there are no significant performance scores differences between EEMBC 1.0 and EEMBC 1.1", ECL Director of Engineering Rick Foos said. "Alan made it very clear to me that we could not make changes that affected the existing scores. I'm pleased to say we succeeded. All of the existing 1.0 scores can be compared directly (without conversion) against certified scores on 1.1", he explained.

"We used the new harness; its much easier to use" - Dror Maydan, Software Architect, Tensilica

"EEMBC Version 1.1 really takes into account the kind of flexibility we need at Motorola for benchmarking, comparing compilers, and in submitting scores for certification." - Chuck Corley, Applications Manager, Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector

ECL Announces Appointment of Rick Foos as Director of Engineering, Austin Labs

Key Developer for EEMBC 1.1 Promoted

Austin, Texas USA - August 7, 2002. ECL has announced today that Richard "Rick" Foos has been promoted to ECL Director of Engineering, Austin Labs. Foos was the key developer at ECL responsible for EEMBC 1.1 under the guidance of ECL Chief Technical Officer Alan R. Weiss.

Rick Foos joined ECL in early October, 2001 as an ECL Staff Associate specifically to work on EEMBC benchmark code. His initial assignment was the EEMBC Version 2 Cryptography Suite. In the process of doing that work, ECL decided that EEMBC 1.0, after 3 successful years, needed to be upgraded to create a firm foundation for the technically-challenging EEMBC Version 2 benchmark suites being developed by ECL. Foos' work, along with that of EEMBC's Technical Advisory Group (TechTAG) included bug fixing, a new Portable Test Harness Architecture that extended EEMBC's 8/16 Bit Microcontroller Suite's "Test Harness Lite" concepts into the other EEMBC application spaces, self-checking for each individual kernel, and many other improvements. These improvements have met with great approval by EEMBC members.

"I'm pleased to ratify the facts, which is this: Rick Foos is an incredibly talented software engineer", said ECL Chairman and CTO Alan R. Weiss. "Rick has worked non-stop, tirelessly, to benefit EEMBC and its members not only on EEMBC 1.1, but also EEMBC Version 2. We're gratified that we have been able to attract top-flight talent to ECL on behalf of the industry's efforts to provide fair, honest, certifiable benchmark scores."

Foos is a former Principal Software Engineer at Motorola, where he lead the Windows NT on PowerPC Firmware team and contributed to the Streamaster multimedia system. Before that, he was a Vice-President of Engineering at two leading BIOS companies (AMI and Award Software), and was a key contributor at CompuAdd, an Austin-based PC manufacturer. Rick has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from St. Edwards University in Austin.

Alan R. Weiss Elected to Northwest Austin #1 Municipal Utility District Office

Vows to cut taxes, improve property values using libertarian ideas

Austin, Texas USA - July, 2002. In an important official State of Texas election that saw three new Directors chosen to office, Alan R. Weiss was elected a Director of the Northwest Austin #1 Municipal Utility District (M.U.D.), beating out 3 other challengers. This M.U.D. comprises the neighborhood of Canyon Creek , in far northwest Austin. Director Weiss was sworn-in at a recent NW Austin #1 MUD Board Meeting that had the highest citizen/taxpayer participation ever for a MUD Board Meeting. Also elected were Don Zimmerman and Bill Ferguson.

"My mission is simple: First, I swoar an oath to uphold the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution. Secondly, I want our MUD to consider the very real, very exciting possibility of seceding from the City of Austin and, joining with other upscale neighborhoods in the area, forming a world-class city of our own. Third, we have a fiduciary duty to carry out the business of the MUD and make sure existing bond-holders and already-committed expenses are paid as appropriate. Fourth, we must improve property values, and secession with world-class services is one way to do that. I am open to other methods as well", explained Director Weiss.

"For far too long, the City of Austin has double-taxed Canyon Creek. We are taxed by both the City and the MUD for the same services. Every other MUD, when annexed by the greedy, capricious, uncaring City has had its MUD debt bought out and retired. Every one, except Canyon Creek that is!. I will work to find every legal way possible to correct this injustice", stated Director Weiss. "At the very least, we should actively pursue ways to return taxpayer's money to them. Taxation is theft, and having a huge "war chest" in the MUD's budget is simply bad government."

The new Directors, drawn exclusively from the residents and taxpayers of Canyon Creek, have replaced three former Directors appointed by the real estate developers of this prestigious community nestled in the Hill Country near Austin. They join existing Directors Ed Swarthout and Karen Temborius, who's terms end in two years. Directors Weiss, Zimmerman, and Ferguson will serve for a four year term.

ECL Year 2003 Budget Approved by EEMBC

Fourth straight year of unanimous approval by EEMBC Voting Board Members shows great confidence in the fairness and independence of EEMBC Certification Laboratories

San Diego, California, USA - November, 2002. In an unanimous vote of 18 to 0, the EEMBC Certification Laboratories, LLC (ECL) had its budget request approved by the EEMBC Board of Directors at the November, 2002 meetings in San Diego, California. This makes the fourth straight year that ECL has received unanimous approval and support, a sign of the industry's confidence in its record of achievement, its fairness to all EEMBC members, and its very high level of support.

"Speaking for all of the people of the Labs, we're pleased and grateful that the EEMBC members have such a high level of faith in our abilities, and have recognized our contributions to fair, honest, certified industry-standard benchmarking," said ECL Chairman and CTO Alan R. Weiss. "ECL has worked very hard this past year in producing a much-improved set of of benchmark suites with the release of Version 1.1, and we've always stayed within our budget," he noted.

Motorola Voting Board Member Chuck Corley, in a comment during the deliberations, said, "As long as ECL continues to return value to the EEMBC members, we will continue to support them. Certifications are something of great value at Motorola, and we're pleased with ECL's work."

"The ECL organization is a major strength of the EEMBC standards group. They ensure a level and fair playing field for both suppliers benchmarking products and for customer relying on those scores for product selection", stated NEC's David Lamar, a long-time EEMBC Board Member who was just elected to that organization's Finance Committee.

"ECL's contributions during 2002 were monumental, and despite EEMBC growing by over 10 members, ECL never asked for additional money to support them", stated EEMBC President Markus Levy. "This kind of financial responsibility and efficiency is just another sign that the EEMBC Board members picked the right company to certify benchmark scores."

For more information contact
alan@ebenchmarks.com