Cohesion Tools Ships New Unix Release of Engineering Capture System.

WOODSIDE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1999--

Cohesion Tools, Inc. today announced that a new release of the Unix version of their Engineering Capture System (ECS), Schematic Hierarchical Design Management System version 3.03, is available for immediate shipment.

This release contains fixes to all reported bugs, and a host of new features. ECS v.3.03 is UNIX System-V compatible, running on Sun Solaris 7 & 6 with either Open Windows or CDE Motif, and is data base cross-platform compatible with Cohesion's Windows product.

"This is a very significant release for a number of reasons," stated Jack Murphy, President & CEO of Cohesion Tools.

"It substantially demonstrates to our customer base that Cohesion Tools follows through on our commitment to listen to our customers and provide them with the most powerful design tools in the industry.

"Less than two months ago the first press release from Cohesion announced that we secured an exclusive license of ECS from Xilinx, and that our first priority was to satisfy the thousands of existing ECS customers around the world. For months prior to the completed agreement, we engaged with our customers to understand their issues and desires for both enhancements and new features.

"If it was an issue for our customers, then we dealt with it. We enhanced the core ECS product to make it easier to use and better meet the needs of our customers. And we added significant functionality to provide powerful hierarchy design management capability."

"We had two major goals for this release," said Jesse Newcomb, Vice President Products for Cohesion: "Identify and fix all known bugs and usability issues with the existing product, and add robust new features to increase the power and capability of this new upgraded version of ECS.

"Improvements in the following areas are made in v3.03: Monochrome Mode, Windowing Graphics, Net Flags, Postscript File Names, Global Nets, Multiple Large Busses, Process Termination, Navigator Termination, Y2K date format, updated PCB Netlisters, Memory Use, and Pin Directions. Details of the specific issues and the enhancements made can be found under the Unix release notes and data sheet on the company's web site.

"There are also a number of new powerful features included in this release: A Hierarchical Verilog Netlister that in beta trial netlisted complete Verilog hierarchy for a 500K-gate ASIC in 15 seconds flat. A Verilog importer that converts Modules into schematic symbols and writes the hierarchy in Verilog format, eliminating lots of tedious work.

"File Browser Dialog Boxes that allow full directory navigation and file filtering. A new Network License Manager with support for node-locked, server-locked, and site-wide subnet licensing. And a read-only 'review' tool that can open a design, trace nets, find symbols, push and pop through hierarchy, and make prints.

"Design engineers who use ECS know that this system is much more than just another schematic capture system. This new Unix release increases the power and performance of the core system, and includes a set of new features that extends the capability of ECS as a true Hierarchy Design Management System."

"We're reaching out and contacting our customers now to make this release available to them", said Michael Saia, Cohesion Vice President Sales & Marketing. "Although this new Unix version is a significant upgrade to the current product, it will be provided to users on current maintenance contracts at no additional cost. Customers who are not currently on maintenance can obtain the new system by initiating a new maintenance agreement with Cohesion Tools."

Cohesion Tools was founded with the vision to provide the best of class, cohesive front-end software tools for the PCB, FPGA, and ASIC design environments. Visit the Cohesion Tools website at www.cohesiontools.com.