Cadence Assura Solution Targets Chip Designers in High-Growth Communications Market Segments.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2000

Texas Instruments and Cypress Semiconductor Support Assura Solution

For Verification of Problematic Analog and RF Circuitry

Responding to demands from leading communication chip makers for an advanced, yet easy-to-adopt solution for physical verification, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN), the world's leading supplier of electronic design products and services, today announced the availability of the Assura(TM) physical verification and extraction tool suite. Fully integrated with the popular Cadence(R) Analog Design Environment, the Assura solution verifies the manufacturability of next-generation communications and system-chips that contain increasing amounts of intricate analog circuitry.

"The Assura suite of tools is the result of a renewed commitment to provide our customers with solutions that are tailored to their very specific requirements in key technology areas," said Charles Albertalli, director of product marketing, physical verification at Cadence. "In addition to developing the most robust physical verification tool suite for complex analog designs, Cadence is also dedicated to making the Assura solution work with our customer's current design methodologies."

The Assura tool suite uses the very successful Diva(R) full custom design and verification interactive use-model, but provides new capabilities, better performance, and increased capacity. Diva rule deck compatibility and a familiar user interface minimize time-to-productivity, as demonstrated in extensive tests performed by engineers at Texas Instruments, Cypress Semiconductor, IBM-SiGe, and Infineon.

"Our next generation, 2.5 and 3G wireless solutions have more complex analog circuitry than ever before," said Felicia James, MSP EDA manager of Texas Instruments. "We're pushing the envelope of IC manufacturability and Cadence EDA tools which specifically address the uniqueness and complexity of the types of chips we are building."

In addition to product features that ease the transition from previous generation tools, the Assura customer adoption plan provides a convenient, economic migration path for existing Cadence physical verification customers. The plan includes a generous upgrade credit for previous-generation Cadence verification tools, attractive base product pricing, and a master key license program that facilitates simultaneous access to other Cadence tool(s) during the adoption. Assura rule decks are also available for the major foundries as part of the Cadence foundry partnership program.

"Assura picks up where Diva leaves off," said Michael La Bouff, director of corporate CAD at Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. "We have a well-established design flow based on Cadence tools, but we must have a more robust verification solution for our next-generation designs. The Assura solution's functionality meets those needs without costly changes to our current design methodology."

Unique Capability for Analog/Mixed-Signal and RF Chips

The Assura solution incorporates patented technology for hierarchical DRC and LVS, and the production-proven RC extraction technology from Lucent's Bell Laboratories, bringing the benefits of hierarchical verification to the world of analog/mixed-signal and RF designers. The Assura physical verification and extraction suite provides the fastest turnaround and highest accuracy for full-chip transistor-level DRC/LVS and RC extraction. The Assura solution also includes capabilities for addressing sub-wavelength optical and process proximity effects providing a complete solution for designs at 0.25-micron and below.

Pricing and Availability

The Assura toolset is available for a U.S. list price starting at $81,600 for a one-year license. It is available on UNIX-based workstations from HP, Sun Microsystems, and IBM. For information on international pricing, please contact the local Cadence sales office.

About Cadence

Cadence is the largest supplier of software products, methodology services, and design services used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and a variety of other electronics-based products. With approximately 5,100 employees and 1999 annual revenue of $1.1 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world. The Company is headquartered in San Jose, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDN. More information about the company, its products and services may be obtained from the World Wide Web at http://www.cadence.com.

About Cypress

Cypress Semiconductor is "Driving the Communications Revolution(TM)" by providing high-performance integrated circuit solutions to fast-growing markets, including data communications, telecommunications, computation, consumer products, and industrial-control. With a focus on emerging communications applications, Cypress's product portfolios include networking-optimized and micropower static RAMs; high-bandwidth multi-port and FIFO memories; high-density programmable logic devices; timing technology for PCs and other digital systems; and controllers for Universal Serial Bus (USB). Cypress is No. 1 in the USB and clock chip markets. Cypress aims to become the preferred silicon supplier for Internet switching systems and for every Internet data stream to pass through at least one Cypress IC. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CY. More information about Cypress is accessible electronically on the company's Web site at http://www.cypress.com or by CD-ROM (call 800/858-1810).

About TI

Texas Instruments Incorporated is the world leader in digital signal processing and analog technologies, the semiconductor engines of the Internet age. The company's businesses also include materials and controls, and educational and productivity solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries. Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the web site at http://www.ti.com.

Note to Editors: Cadence and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks and Diva and Assura are trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their owners.