Avnet Cilicon Adds Synopsys' FPGA Solution to Avalon Reference Design System; Industry Leaders Begin Joint Promotion of FPGA Compiler II.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2002

Synopsys Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS), the technology leader for complex integrated circuit (IC) design, and Avnet Cilicon, the focused semiconductor distributor of Avnet Electronics Marketing (EM), a division of Avnet (NYSE:AVT), Inc., today announced an agreement to jointly promote Synopsys' FPGA Compiler II(TM) for synthesis of complex FPGA designs. The Synopsys tool is now a part of Avnet Design Service's Avalon Reference Design System(TM). Avnet customers will benefit from the advanced features in FPGA Compiler II, such as block-level incremental synthesis (BLIS) and retiming, ultimately providing them with the high-quality, fast synthesis they require.

"We're including FPGA Compiler II in our Avalon Reference Design System because of its proven track record with Xilinx(R) FPGA customers, fast incremental synthesis, and ASIC- strength design flow. Also, it's the natural upgrade to the previous generation tool, FPGA Express, which has been used by many of our customers," said Warren Miller, vice president of marketing at Avnet. "Synopsys' FPGA Compiler II complements the advanced Xilinx FPGA devices offered in our extensive suite of development kits and evaluation boards."

Michael Jackson, vice president and general manager of the FPGA group at Synopsys, said, "As a leading technical distributor of complex semiconductor and electronic products, Avnet is in contact with a wide range of designers who are involved in Xilinx FPGA designs. We're working together with Avnet to jointly promote FPGA Compiler II, the best and fastest incremental synthesis tool for FPGA designs. Avnet customers who upgrade to FPGA Compiler II and the Avalon Reference Design System can speed up their development cycles."

For more information on the Avalon Reference Design System and the variety of development platforms that can be used in conjunction with FPGA Compiler II to speed your chip development cycle, visit www.ads.avnet.com.

About FPGA Compiler II

FPGA Compiler II provides high-performance architecture-specific synthesis for high-end FPGAs from Xilinx and Altera. FPGA Compiler II has the unique capability of providing traditional FPGA or ASIC-compatible design flows that meet the needs of programmable logic designers while at the same time utilizing an intuitive GUI or scripting mode for design realization.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., creates leading electronic design automation (EDA) tools for the global electronics market. The company delivers advanced design technologies and solutions to developers of complex integrated circuits, electronic systems and systems-on-chip. Synopsys also provides consulting and support services to simplify the overall IC design process and accelerate time to market for its customers. Visit Synopsys at http://www.synopsys.com/fpga.

About Avnet Cilicon

Avnet Cilicon is the semiconductor distribution specialist division of Avnet Electronics Marketing in the Americas. Avnet Cilicon combines semiconductor expertise, technical excellence and deep market knowledge to enhance time to revenue for all supply-chain partners in the electronics arena. Avnet Cilicon's core competencies include materials management, technical support through Avnet Design Services, logistics support through Avnet IMS and customer-centric, dedicated sales channels. To learn more about Avnet Cilicon's capabilities please visit http://www.cilicon.com or call 1-800-408-8353.

Synopsys is a registered trademark and FPGA Compiler II and FPGA Express are trademarks of Synopsys, Inc. Avnet Cilicon, and the Avalon Reference Design System are trademarks of Avnet, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.