CoWare Introduces ConvergenSC SystemC Product Family; System-Level Design Leader Enables Customers to ``Differentiate by Design''.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2003

CoWare(R) Inc. today introduced the ConvergenSC(TM) product family, the electronic design automation (EDA) industry's first system-level design solution using a common infrastructure for both design and verification, built expressly for SystemC.

Leveraging insight gained from its global customer base and its leadership in the development of the SystemC standard, CoWare created ConvergenSC (pronounced convergency) to integrate multi-disciplinary requirements of system-on-chip (SoC) designs. System architects, platform and intellectual property (IP) developers, and system integrators now have a SystemC-based environment to rapidly create optimal, differentiated SoC designs. Embedded software developers are able to validate their software on a model of the silicon using the SystemC Transactional Prototype created using ConvergenSC.

"The big opportunity for SoC designers is to differentiate their products by making the optimal architecture choices for their target market," says Mark Milligan, CoWare's vice president of Marketing. "With ConvergenSC, CoWare is first to market with a SystemC solution specifically tailored to making the best design decisions and validating them in a complete system environment including software.

ConvergenSC System Designer

The first product announced in the ConvergenSC family, System Designer, enables convergence of system architecture design and verification. It shaves development time by providing high-speed simulation, architecture analysis, and design implementation on a single SystemC-based infrastructure. Capabilities include:

-- Creation of a SystemC Transactional Prototype for SoCs

containing multiple processors, complex busses, memories,

custom logic and embedded software.

-- Unmatched simulation performance using an all-new, fully

compliant, SystemC simulation architecture, running up to five

times faster than the Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) SystemC

reference simulator.

-- Unique analysis capabilities to create optimal design

architectures, including Bus Views showing occupancy,

transactions and contention; Memory Views showing cache hits

and misses; and Embedded Processor Views showing processor

utilization for software tasks or functions.

SystemC Transactional Prototypes enable SoC architecture decisions, such as hardware/ software partitioning, processor selection, co-processor design, and bus architecture, to be made early in the development process. These decisions have greater impact on a product's market success compared to downstream implementation efforts. Using high-speed simulation performance, architecture analysis capabilities, and tools to quickly change the design, multiple architectures may be evaluated in the system environment to determine the optimal configuration. These SystemC Transactional Prototypes execute fast enough to boot larger real-time operating systems (RTOSs), such as embedded Linux, and can be used for software development, comprehensive system integration, and hardware design verification.

SystemC Model Availability and Third-Party EDA Support

Because ConvergenSC is fully compliant with the OSCI SystemC standard, any IP models created to SystemC specifications run correctly within the ConvergenSC environment. For maximum performance, commercial and custom processors are easily modeled using CoWare's LISATek software.

Additionally, Transactional Bus Simulators are available from CoWare to provide baseline configurations of popular bus standards such as AMBA (see companion release titled, "CoWare Launches Fast AMBA Transactional Bus Simulator for SystemC"). Third-party EDA tool support includes Novas' Debussy Debug System and HDL co-simulation using Cadence's NC-Sim and Synopsys' VCS.

Availability

CoWare's ConvergenSC System Designer product will be available in June 2003. A standalone version of the high-performance SystemC simulator, called ConvergenSC System Verifier, is available immediately. All run on Sun Solaris and Linux operating systems. Current CoWare N2C(R) System Designer customers may upgrade to ConvergenSC System Designer at no charge. For more details, contact Pete Hardee, director of product marketing, at [e-mail] or at [phone].

About CoWare

CoWare, the leading supplier of system-level electronic design automation (EDA) software, is revolutionizing system on chip (SoC) and embedded software development by enabling engineers to create design platforms optimized for specific market requirements. Its software is employed today by major systems, intellectual property (IP) and semiconductor companies worldwide. For the second year, the San Jose Business Journal has recognized CoWare as one of the fastest-growing private companies in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit: http://www.coware.com.

ConvergenSC is a trademark of CoWare, Inc. CoWare and CoWare N2C are registered trademarks of CoWare, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.