Cadence Unveils Industry's Most Comprehensive Test Solution to Link Design and Manufacturing; Encounter Test Solutions Minimizes Cost, Maximizes Quality and Yield.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2003

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN) today unveiled Encounter(TM) Test Solutions, the most comprehensive test solution available on the market to support a unified test methodology bridging design and manufacturing. Encounter Test Solutions helps design and test engineers reduce test cost and offers superior test coverage to aid in product quality improvement. In addition, it specifically addresses the unique needs of product and process engineers who experience large inefficiencies in time and effort when endeavoring to improve yield. Encounter Test Solutions breaks new ground by accelerating defect identification and linking design and manufacturing data. This enables dramatic improvements in time-to-volume and time-to-yield for semiconductor and system companies.

Encounter Test Solutions consists of two products: Encounter Test Design Edition and Encounter Test Manufacturing Edition. Encounter Test Design Edition, targeted for design and test engineers, includes automated design-for-test (DFT) insertion, capacity for designs with more than 50 million gates, memory built-in-self-test (BIST), embedded core test, test compression with x-state masking and compact, high-coverage delay tests. Encounter Test Manufacturing Edition, is a state-of-the-art failure diagnostic environment that analyzes design intent and manufacturing information. Encounter Test Manufacturing Edition enables product and process engineers to achieve up to 2.5 times higher diagnostics callout efficacy over conventional approaches.

"We have used Design Edition and Manufacturing Edition in the design of our AMD Athlon(TM) 64 and AMD Athlon 64 FX processors and have been very pleased with the results," said Ed Gasiorowski, director of developer relations, AMD Computation Products Group. "To design extreme-performance AMD64 processors, AMD uses the power and flexibility of Cadence test tools to achieve our product test and manufacturing objectives."

Encounter Test Solutions expands on IBM's in-house electronic design automation (EDA) test tools and heritage, acquired in September 2002.

"We applaud Cadence's innovative efforts to assist customers as they face increasing complexity in both design and manufacturing," said Tom Reeves, vice president, ASIC Product Group, IBM Microelectronics. "Cadence has built upon IBM's basic test technology with a focus on standardization and commercial robustness to help further enhance test quality while reducing test time. We continue to work closely with Cadence to combine that Cadence expertise with IBM technology to bring further benefits to customers."

"Cadence's commitment to the test sector is evident with the introduction of Encounter Test Solutions," said Penny Herscher, Cadence executive vice president and general manager. "We are offering customers the complete test package, which is unmatched by any competitor, but, more importantly, extends solutions into manufacturing, and helps save time and money in the process."

Pricing and Availability

Encounter Test Design Edition and a stand-alone version of the Encounter Test Manufacturing Edition fault-isolation engine, are expected to be available worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2003. The stand-alone engine can also be used as a plug-in alongside Encounter Test Design Edition. Additional features of the complete Encounter Test Manufacturing Edition environment will be rolled out to partners in Q1 of 2004. Encounter Test Solutions pricing ranges from about $75,000 to $750,000 for a one-year time-based license.

About Cadence

Cadence(R) is the largest supplier of electronic design technologies, methodology services and design services. Cadence solutions are 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 5,000 employees and 2002 revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers and research facilities around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDN. More information about the company, its products and services is available at www.cadence.com.

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