Expanding Reach, EEMBC Launches Program to License Processor Benchmark Software to Commercial Users

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif.—October 24, 2005—Moving to put its processor benchmarks into the hands of a larger number of embedded system developers, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium today announced that it will license its benchmark software to commercial users. Previously available only to EEMBC members, the consortium’s benchmark software helps predict the performance of embedded processors and memory subsystems in a range of applications.

Certified EEMBC scores for many processors have always been available for free on the EEMBC Web site, but since EEMBC’s founding, only members of the consortium had access to the benchmark source code and the ability to run the benchmarks. This is about to change. Under the new program, OEMs, design consultants, and other qualified users can now license any or all of EEMBC’s benchmark suites.

“EEMBC benchmarks have already become widely accepted, and interest from OEMs is greater than ever,” said EEMBC President Markus Levy. “With this new program, we are further providing an industry-standard alternative to the proprietary benchmarks that are now in use.”

Beyond the traditional competitive model, EEMBC benchmark software has many uses. It can be used as a tool to analyze, tune, and validate new processor and system architectures; to prove product capabilities; and to compare processors according to more important criteria than clock rate. The specific application areas targeted by the benchmark suites include automotive, digital entertainment, digital imaging, mobile Java, networking, office automation, and telecom.

“In some ways this is a major departure for EEMBC,” Levy added. “Until now, any commercial enterprise that wanted to use the Consortium’s benchmarks could do so only by becoming an EEMBC member. However, the licensing model has quite a successful precedent in EEMBC U, under which faculty members at universities and colleges are entitled to license the benchmark source code for teaching and research purposes. We are continuing, moreover, to add to our membership with processor vendors and OEMs who want to be in a position to influence the development of EEMBC’s next-generation benchmarks and to use benchmark scores for both product development and marketing purposes.”

Since their introduction in 1997, certified EEMBC benchmark scores have won the respect of the embedded industry worldwide as an objective measure of processor, compiler, and mobile Java performance. While the consortium will continue to allow the publication only of scores that have been verified by its certification lab, the new licensing program is set to make EEMBC benchmark software more widely available as a relevant, focused, objective tool for engineers choosing between processors for their applications.

Further information on EEMBC benchmark software is available at www.eembc.org. Pricing for a single-user license ranges from $800 to $4,000.