Anadigm Launches AnadigmDesigner2, First EDA Tool to Support Dynamically Reconfigurable Field-Programmable Analog Arrays.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 2002

Design Breakthrough Adds On-the-Fly Reprogramming and Automatic C-Code Generation for System-Level Control of Complex Analog Functions

In a breakthrough for analog design, Anadigm(R) today announced it is shipping an advanced EDA tool that enables the design and implementation of dynamically reconfigurable analog circuits within a matter of minutes.

The new AnadigmDesigner(R)2 software suite makes its debut as the EDA component of Anadigmvortex, the second generation of a product family that combines a powerful EDA tool, configurable analog modules (CAMs), and field-programmable analog array (FPAA) silicon -- the analog equivalent of FPGAs -- to reduce the time required for analog design implementations from months to minutes.

AnadigmDesigner(R)2 is the first EDA product on the market to allow designers to develop their designs using FPAAs that can be reconfigured by the microcontroller in real time to change the function they perform within a system or to adapt on the fly to maintain precision despite system degradation and aging.

The complex analog circuits developed using the AnadigmDesigner(R)2 software will be used in a wide range of industrial, automotive, medical, automatic test equipment, instrumentation, and communications products for applications such as signal conditioning, closed loop control, and data acquisition.

AnadigmDesigner(R)2 is the latest in a family of design tools from Anadigm(R) that allow designers to construct complex analog functions using CAMs as building blocks -- dramatically reducing the time required to design analog subsystems, as well as enhancing designer productivity. With an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, the design process can be measured in minutes, allowing complete analog systems to be built rapidly, simulated immediately, and then downloaded to the FPAA chip for testing and validation.

AnadigmDesigner(R)2 adds to these capabilities with dynamic reconfigurability -- the ability to reconfigure the FPAA on the fly -- and by automatically generating C-code that can be incorporated into the system algorithm to enable the FPAA to be adjusted and controlled directly by a microprocessor within an embedded system.

"System-level challenges -- including the need for higher levels of integration, flexibility, and versatility -- are driving the industry trend toward software-centric solutions that bring analog in out of the cold and into the system-level dialog that is taking place between programmable device providers, platform providers, and EDA providers," said Mike Kay, Anadigm(R) president and CEO. "This is what we've achieved with AnadigmDesigner(R)2 and with our second-generation Anadigmvortex solution as a whole. For the first time, designers in the embedded systems world can control and adjust analog functions using software in real time."

For example, designers can now use the C-code generated by AnadigmDesigner(R)2 to change the gain and corner frequency of low- and high-pass filters, to set the multiplication factor of a multiplier using a fixed-point or a full floating-point method, or to set the gain of the inputs for a sum difference multiplier. And functions such as these can be adjusted not only during the design stage but while the chip is running in the system.

"Anadigm(R) has introduced the industry's first dynamically reprogrammable FPAAs that can be reconfigured on the fly for real-time control, updating, and manipulation of analog components under the control of the system processor," said Rita Glover, EDA analyst and consultant at EDA Today, L.C. "The importance of real-time control cannot be understated because it means that designers will now be able to use specialized analog for applications that formerly required DSPs, thus simplifying designs and removing latency problems."

"The ability to construct dynamically reprogrammable systems as easily as you can construct a static analog system is crucial," added Anadigm(R)'s Kay. "We've delivered this important capability by automating the process by which the designer instructs AnadigmDesigner(R)2 to create the necessary code to be used by the system processor."

In fact, AnadigmDesigner(R)2 reduces the task of programming dynamic reconfigurability to a simple, push-of-the-button function.

For some highly complex analog designs, more than one FPAA may be used, and AnadigmDesigner(R)2 addresses this need with a new multiple-chip support feature that allows analog functions to be designed across several chips -- all visible on the same screen -- that act seamlessly as a single unit within the end system. Additional new features include design and simulation support for fully differential FPAAs, faster design downloads to the programmable chips, and a host of new interface improvements.

A multimedia demonstration of the new AnadigmDesigner(R)2 software can be viewed at the Anadigm(R) Web site at www.anadigm.com. A complete evaluation kit with a development board, entry-level software, and updated documentation is now available for $499.00.

About Anadigm(R)

Anadigm(R) combines the three most powerful design trends from the digital world (design automation, field-programmable ICs, real-time updating) into a platform for analog design, greatly reducing cost of ownership for analog signal conditioning and processing functions across many market segments. Founded in January 2000 as a venture-backed technology spinoff from Motorola, the company maintains U.S. headquarters in Campbell, Calif., and European headquarters in Crewe, U.K. For further information, visit Anadigm(R) on the Web at www.anadigm.com.

Anadigm(R) and AnadigmDesigner(R) are registered trademarks of Anadigm(R), Inc.