Cadence and Synplicity Unveil Strategy to Address Burgeoning FPGA Market; Companies Sign Strategic OEM Agreements; Cadence Introduces FPGA Studio Series.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2000

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN), the world's leading provider of electronic design products and services, and Synplicity, Inc., a leading supplier of logic synthesis software for programmable logic design, today announced they have forged a strategic alliance to address the needs of the growing field-programmable gate array (FPGA) market. The companies have signed two complementary OEM agreements to provide an extremely robust synthesis and simulation environment to FPGA designers. As a result of these OEM agreements, Synplicity(R) will now distribute, for the first time, the Cadence(R) Affirma(TM) NC VHDL desktop simulator and the Affirma Verilog(R)-XL desktop simulator, and Cadence's PCB Systems Division, the worldwide printed circuit board (PCB) EDA market leader, will now distribute Synplicity's node-locked Synplify(R) FPGA synthesis tool. This reciprocation agreement represents a new phase and an expansion of an OEM agreement signed by the two companies in 1998.

As important, Synplicity's Synplify synthesis product will be included in the new PCB Systems Division FPGA Studio solution for the mainstream FPGA designer. Both Synplicity and Cadence believe this alliance will benefit the design community by providing leading-edge performance and high-quality results for complex logic designs.

"Today's strategic announcement builds on our long-standing relationship with Cadence and we are pleased that Synplify was chosen as the synthesis tool-of-choice for Cadence's new FPGA tool suite," said Bernie Aronson, president and CEO of Synplicity. "By partnering with Cadence to provide the best synthesis and simulation environment to programmable logic designers, we believe we are now poised to serve a significantly higher portion of the FPGA design market in the next decade."

According to Dave DeMaria, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Cadence Design Systems, Inc., "We are very excited that Synplicity's comprehensive evaluation of simulators established Cadence Affirma simulation technology as best-of-breed. With our scalable architecture now in the hands of Synplicity's extensive synthesis-focused sales channel, we can address the broad range of FPGA designers' needs, from verification of small parts to board-level simulation with multiple FPGAs containing millions of gates."

FPGA Market Is Growing Rapidly

According to a 1999 study by San Jose market research firm, Dataquest, the use of FPGA devices is expected to grow at approximately 25 percent annually over the next five years. With the increasing density and performance of FPGA components, mainstream PCB designers have stepped up their use of FPGAs as an alternative to application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). These designers have struggled with the demands of high gate-count designs and require affordable high-performance solutions that enable them to generate FPGA designs in a highly productive fashion, verify they work properly, and insure FPGA performance on critical high-speed PCB designs.

Cadence recognizes that high-quality FPGA synthesis is a key component of a comprehensive system-level design solution. Synplicity's focus has always been to supply leading-edge synthesis products to the FPGA market, which aligns closely with the PCB Systems Division's overall PCB design tool solution. The extended agreement with Synplicity means that the PCB Systems Division, the leading global supplier of PCB design solutions for both the mainstream and shrink-wrap markets, is now also strongly positioned in the FPGA market.

"The goal of the PCB Systems Division is to deliver the best possible value to our customers who need complete solutions for high-speed PCBs incorporating high-density FPGA designs," stated Mike Bosworth, senior vice president of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and head of the PCB Systems Division. "Our agreement with Synplicity enables us to offer a top-of-the-line FPGA solution that now includes the best synthesis and simulation tools in the industry."

Cadence FPGA Studio Series for PCB Design

The PCB Systems Division FPGA Studio series is a solution for designing FPGAs that includes schematic entry; FPGA synthesis; HDL simulation; and web-based project management. Customers have a choice of Orcad(R) Capture(R) schematic or Cadence Concept(R) HDL schematic entry; Synplicity node-locked Synplify for FPGA synthesis; and the Cadence Affirma NC VHDL desktop simulator or Verilog-XL desktop simulator for HDL simulation. In December, Cadence announced the new low-cost Affirma NC VHDL desktop version of its Affirma NC VHDL simulator. This latest offering brings the industry's most advanced VHDL simulation capability to the FPGA market.

Pricing and Availability

The PCB Systems Division FPGA Studio series, priced at $15,000 (U.S. list), is available worldwide on Windows NT with the Verilog-XL desktop simulator, or the Affirma NC VHDL desktop simulator. The standalone Affirma NC VHDL desktop simulator is available at a U.S. list price of $5,000 for a node-locked license and $8,000 for a floating license. The standalone Synplicity node-locked Synplify synthesis product is available now at $12,000 (U.S. list).

For more information on product pricing and availability call 800-671-9505 for Cadence products and call 408-215-6000 for Synplicity products. For pricing and availability outside of North America, contact your local Cadence or Synplicity office or distributor.

About Cadence

Cadence is the largest supplier of electronic design automation 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. The Cadence PCB Systems Division, the worldwide PCB EDA market leader, addresses the entire range of design needs in the PCB market, with complete tool suites available on Windows, Windows NT, and UNIX platforms. With more than 4,000 employees and 1998 annual sales of $1.3 billion Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities located around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., 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 Synplicity

Founded in 1994, Synplicity, Inc. delivers the benefits of logic synthesis and embedded synthesis technologies to programmable logic and ASIC designers by developing fast, easy-to-use, affordable tools with extremely high quality of results. Synplicity products support industry-standard design languages (VHDL and Verilog), run on popular platforms (Windows 95/98, Windows NT and UNIX) and support leading PLD manufacturers. Synplicity is a Platinum member of Cadence Connections Program (NYSE:CDN), Synopsys Liberty Program (Nasdaq:SNPS), and other industry standards organizations. The company is located at 935 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086. Telephone: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; E-Mail: [e-mail].

Note to Editors: Cadence, the Cadence logo, Concept, and Verilog are registered trademarks and Affirma is a trademark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. Orcad and Capture are registered trademarks of OrCAD, Inc. All OrCAD trademarks become property of Cadence as of January 1, 2000. Synplicity and Synplify are registered trademarks of Synplicity, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective holders.