CynApps Announces Cadence TestBuilder Support for Cynlib to Improve System Level Design Verification.

Business Editors, High Tech Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2000

CynApps today announced the integration of Cadence TestBuilder technology with the CynApps Cynlib class library. TestBuilder is a C++ based testbench library within the Cadence Verification Cockpit that allows users to develop and run powerful bug-finding testbenches for hardware designs.

Cynlib is a C++ class library, which facilitates hardware description directly in C++. With TestBuilder and Cynlib, complete design and verification can be performed in C++. The design can subsequently be synthesized into an HDL representation by CynApps' Cynthesizer for RTL synthesis by standard design tools.

"Sun is committed to designing at a higher level of abstraction for our next-generation hardware projects, and we believe that a standardized C++ based HDL such as that from CynApps will play an important role in that process," said George Plouffe, engineering manager, Sun Microsystems. "Support for standard C++ for verification such as Cadence's TestBuilder in a C++/Cynlib environment is also an important capability to improve design productivity."

"We are pleased that CynApps has chosen to integrate our C++ testbench solution, TestBuilder with Cynlib," said Dr. Rahul Razdan, vice president of R&D and marketing at Cadence. "Our intention is to provide our customers choices for design and testbench description to solve the overall design problem. We plan to continue working with CynApps to provide support for joint customers such as Sun."

TestBuilder is a component of the Cadence Verification Cockpit, which uses classes and methods from a C++ library, providing the means to create transaction-based testbenches that can be partitioned into tests and testbench components (transactors). With TestBuilder, a user can easily create bug-finding, high-coverage functional test suites using features including:

       --   Concurrent operations - ability to drive transactions (on
          each interface of the design) concurrently

       --   White box, directed random testing - ability to target
          transactions at specific functionality in a random fashion,
          given some knowledge of the design under test

       --   Cause and Effect Testing (self-checking tests) - ability to
          monitor, that for a given sequence of stimulus, the actual
          operation of the design matches the expectations as detailed
          in the specifications

"Cadence TestBuilder provides a key capability which enhances the C++/Cynlib design environment even further," said Dr. John Sanguinetti, president of CynApps. "We are pleased that Cadence is helping us make the C++/Cynlib design environment the richest C-based design environment available."

TestBuilder interfaces with a Cynlib model through the Cynlib API, which is new in the Cynlib 1.2 release announced last week. This API works similarly to the standard VPI interface TestBuilder uses to interface to Cadence NC-Sim. The production release of the Verification Cockpit including TestBuilder, will be available in July. Cynlib 1.2 is available now from www.cynapps.com.

About CynApps

CynApps was founded in 1998, to develop tools to support the use of higher levels of abstraction for hardware design. By enabling C++ to be used as a hardware description language through the development of the Cynlib(R) class library, CynApps has eliminated the need to manually rewrite an algorithm using a language such as Verilog or VHDL prior to synthesis. Cynlib is available under an open source license.

The company now offers a complete tool-suite that supports successive elaboration of an abstract C/C++ description into a hardware description, to be synthesized automatically. The Cynlib environment is the most complete C++ design environment available today. CynApps has its worldwide headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. and can be reached at [phone], or on the web at www.cynapps.com.