Cadence Completes Digital Product Line Segmentation with Introduction of Encounter GXL Technologies; SoC Encounter GXL, Encounter RTL Compiler GXL and Encounter Conformal Low Power GXL Address Challenges at 65nm and Beyond.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) today announced that it has completed its new product segmentation strategy for the Cadencer(R) Encounter(R) digital IC design platform announced at CDNLive! in September of this year. The now fully segmented Cadence Encounter platform provides customers with multiple levels of technology tailored to specific levels of digital IC design complexity.

The Encounter offerings comprise three levels, Encounter L, XL and GXL. The Encounter L product series provides an easy-to-use, integrated, value-priced implementation environment for less complex, flat designs at 150 nanometers and above with gate counts below 5 million. The Encounter XL product series targets large-scale, high-performance, hierarchical designs over 5 million gates. The third series, Encounter GXL, announced today, caters to leading-edge, very high performance designs at 65 nanometers and beyond.

Three separate Cadence press releases discussing this news in greater detail were issued today.

--New Cadence SoC Encounter GXL Addresses Customers' Nanometer Design Yield and Variation Challenges -- Yield Aware RTL to GDS Implementation Flow Targets Leading-Edge Designs at 65nm and Beyond

--Cadence Extends Synthesis Technology Lead and Announces Encounter RTL Compiler GXL -- New Global Synthesis Technology Boosts Quality of Silicon and Productivity

--New Cadence Encounter Conformal Low Power GXL Addresses Customer Verification Challenges -- New Conformal Technology Reduces Risk of Functional Errors for Designs at 65nm and Beyond

About Cadence

Cadence enables global electronic-design innovation and plays an essential role in the creation of today's integrated circuits and electronics. Customers use Cadence software and hardware, methodologies, and services to design and verify advanced semiconductors, printed-circuit boards and systems used in consumer electronics, networking and telecommunications equipment, and computer systems. Cadence reported 2004 revenues of approximately $1.2 billion, and has approximately 5,000 employees. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world to serve the global electronics industry. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.com.

Cadence, Encounter and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks and SoC Encounter is a trademark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.