AUSTIN, Texas — Metrowerks is increasing the breadth of its toolset range through the acquisition of a set of embedded development tools from Applied Microsystems Corp.
Metrowerks said it purchased the AMC's NetROM, PowerTAP, SuperTAP, CodeTAP, and CodeTEST tools as well as AMC's game console manufacturing business and DVD emulation technology.
The Motorola subsidiary paid about $3.9m for the tools business, and will retain about 25 employees who worked for the Redmond, Washington company. AMC will refocus as a pre-revenue development company employing about 20 to 25 of the existing headcount, and plans to raise further funds to develop its Libra Networks division. This focuses on the enterprise data center market, and was formed in May 2002 following the acquisition of REBA Technologies.
NetROM is a debug platform that designers can use to track down problems in embedded communication systems. The TAP emulation products, on the other hand, enable in-circuit debugging during the early phases of embedded comm designs, such as board bring-up and device driver development. CodeTEST is an automated test suite for tracking down errors in code.
The closing of the acquisition is subject to a number of conditions, including approval by AMC's shareholders. Once the acquisition is completed, Metrowerks plans to add support for new microprocessor architectures, including the PowerQUICC III, to the TAP and CodeTEST products.
Metrowerks will also combine these products into its CodeWarrior integrated development environment.
