Analogy Announces the First Mixed-Signal Solution for Verilog and VHDL on Windows NT.BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 1999-- Analogy's Leading Mixed-Signal Co-Simulation Interface SABER(R)/ModelSim(TM) Now Available on Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. (R) Analogy, Inc., (Nasdaq:ANLG ANLG Analog ) the leader in mixed-signal and mixed-technology simulation, announced today that its popular Saber/ModelSim Co-Simulation Interface is now available on Windows NT(R). For the first time, designers of complex mixed-signal systems and ICs can use top-down design A design technique that starts with the highest level of an idea and works its way down to the lowest level of detail. See top-down programming. (programming) top-down design - (Or "stepwise refinement"). methodologies with multiple HDLs on PCs running the Windows NT operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. . Previously only available on UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). , the Saber/ModelSim co-simulation interface links Saber, the industry's most advanced mixed-signal HDL (Hardware Description Language) A language used to describe the functions of an electronic circuit for documentation, simulation or logic synthesis (or all three). Although many proprietary HDLs have been developed, Verilog and VHDL are the major standards. simulator, with Model Technology's market-leading digital simulators, ModelSim EE VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) A hardware description language (HDL) used to design electronic systems at the component, board and system level. VHDL allows models to be developed at a very high level of abstraction. and ModelSim EE PLUS. This powerful co-simulation tool can be invoked from leading design environments on UNIX and NT. The analog and digital simulation results are combined and time-aligned in Analogy's SaberScope(TM) for easy viewing, analysis and correlation of data. "We are delighted to provide our customers with a complete mixed-signal design solution on Windows NT," said Doug Lundin, Vice President-Marketing at Analogy. "With this new offering, Saber co-simulates with the industry's leading single-kernel digital simulator that supports both VHDL and Verilog languages on one of the most popular operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. ." The Advantages of True Top-Down Design With the Saber/ModelSim co-simulation interface, designers have access to high-level Hardware Description Languages (language) Hardware Description Language - (HDL) A kind of language used for the conceptual design of integrated circuits. Examples are VHDL and Verilog. (HDLs) for both the analog and digital portions of a circuit. Analog and mixed-signal models are written in MAST(R), Analogy's mixed-signal HDL, while the digital components can be modeled in VHDL using ModelSim EE VHDL, or in VHDL and Verilog using ModelSim EE PLUS. These HDLs describe the entire circuit, allowing a designer to simulate and analyze from the behavioral level down to the transistor level. Simulating at each level in a top-down design helps find problems earlier in the design cycle when they are less expensive to fix. Once a behavioral block has been verified, it can be placed on a design "bookshelf" where it remains ready for the next project. This powerful combination of world-class simulators allows customers to significantly reduce time-to-market on new designs and gives them critical flexibility to meet their design's performance requirements. "We are very pleased that Analogy decided to extend the ModelSim co-simulation interface to Windows NT. Verification of mixed-signal designs is a major challenge for our customers, who have indicated a need for a comprehensive mixed-signal solution on NT as well as on UNIX," said Dennis Brophy, Director of Strategic Business Development for Model Technology. "Analogy's unique integration technology coupled with our leading HDL simulation technology provides users capabilities not available in any other mixed-signal environment for their platform of choice." Optimal Performance with Calaveras(R) Saber utilizes Analogy's patented Calaveras synchronization (1) See synchronous and synchronous transmission. (2) Ensuring that two sets of data are always the same. See data synchronization. (3) Keeping time-of-day clocks in two devices set to the same time. See NTP. algorithm at the critical analog/digital boundary to achieve simulation performance unmatched by competitive products. With Calaveras, information between the analog and digital algorithms is exchanged only when needed, resulting in the highly efficient mixed-signal simulation performance. Other synchronization methods force information exchange at each analog/digital time step or backtrack to re-evaluate previous calculations. Therefore, co-simulation solutions incorporating Saber have simulation performance advantages compared with other solutions, especially when designs include multiple feedback loops. The Saber/ModelSim co-simulation interface also benefits from Analogy's Hypermodel(R) technology. Saber/ModelSim automatically inserts special Hypermodel interfaces, selected from a library of over 2,900 models. These Hypermodels are inserted at the critical analog/digital boundary to facilitate the accurate simulation of analog characteristics of digital pins when connected to analog devices Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) is an American multinational producer of semiconductor devices. Analog specializes in ADC, DAC, MEMS, and DSP chips for consumer and industrial goods. Analog is presently designing circuits in the 65 nanometer to 3 µm process feature sizes range. . The Hypermodels can also be characterized to work with custom digital models. Packed With More Features Unlike other co-simulation solutions, the Saber/ModelSim interface allows designers to perform advanced statistical analysis on their mixed-signal designs. The Saber/ModelSim interface enables this advanced analysis via access to Analogy's optional InSpecs(R) products. Designers can focus on the most critical analog components affecting performance and reliability by employing the InSpecs parametric, stress, and statistical analysis tools. The Saber/ModelSim co-simulation interface supports real number passing at the simulator boundaries. Real number passing between the analog and digital is very important for any designer simulating at the behavioral level. The Exit/Restart feature saves valuable time when running multiple simulations. Exit/Restart goes beyond Pause/Continue by allowing the designer to run the startup sequence for a circuit once and save the exit point. That exit point can be used as a starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the for any future simulations thereby eliminating the need to re-simulate lengthy startup sequences. Price and Availability The Saber/ModelSim co-simulation interface is available immediately for the UNIX and NT platforms. On Windows NT the co-simulation interface can be invoked from the Viewlogic and Analogy design environments. On UNIX systems the co-simulation interface can be invoked from design environments provided by Analogy, Mentor Graphics Mentor Graphics, Inc (NASDAQ: MENT) is a US-based multinational corporation dealing in electronic design automation (EDA) for electrical engineering and electronics, as of 2004, ranked third in the EDA industry it helped create. , Cadence Design Systems (company) Cadence Design Systems - A company that sells electronic design automation software and services. http://cadence.com/. See also Verilog. , and Viewlogic Systems. Node-locked licenses for Saber/ModelSim VHDL (requires ModelSim EE VHDL from Model Technology) are available on Windows NT for $12,000, node locked NT licenses for Saber/ModelSim PLUS (requires ModelSim EE PLUS from Model Technology) are priced at $16,000. The floating license price on UNIX and NT for Saber/ModelSim VHDL is $15,000 and the price for Saber/ModelSim PLUS is $20,000. Founded in January 1985, Analogy, Inc. is a world leader in the development of high-performance design and analysis software and model libraries for the design of mixed-signal and mixed-technology systems. The company's products are used in the aerospace, automotive/transportation, semiconductor, telecom, computer peripherals, medical, and industrial control industries. Analogy has offices and support staff throughout the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Europe and Asia and is headquartered in Beaverton, Ore. Analogy is a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. (Nasdaq:ANLG). For on-line information, visit our web site at: www.analogy.com or e-mail questions to info@analogy.com Analogy, MAST, InSpecs, Calaveras, and Hypermodel are registered trademarks and SaberDesigner, SaberScope and SaberSketch are trademarks of Analogy, Inc. Saber is a registered trademark of American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the Inc., licensed to Analogy, Inc. ModelSim is a trademark of Model Technology. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. All other companies and products are trademarks of their respective manufacturers. NOTE TO EDITORS: Screen shots of the Saber/ModelSim product are available as TIF files upon request. |
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