Gradient Wins EDN Innovation of the Year Award; FireBolt(TM), the EDA Industry's First Full-Chip Thermal Analysis Tool, Recognized for Providing Detailed Full-Chip Temperature Information to IC Designers.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Gradient Design Automation today announced that FireBolt(TM), the EDA industry's first full-chip thermal analysis tool, won the EDN Innovation of the Year Award in the EDA (Verification and Analysis) category. Rajit Chandra, Gradient's founder, president and CEO, accepted the award on Gradient's behalf at the 16th annual EDN Innovation Awards ceremony in San Francisco on Monday evening.

EDN magazine editors, readers, and an editorial advisory board selected FireBolt from a field of hundreds of innovations in recognition of its ability to give integrated circuit (IC) designers a highly accurate 3D temperature map of the billions of objects in an IC, throughout the design process -- from silicon virtual prototyping to final sign-off -- with realistic run times.

The constant temperature assumption used in mixed-signal design does not provide enough detail to predict the potential functional failures in final silicon that may be caused by parametric failures in circuits sensitive to temperature and temperature gradients. The EDA industry needs a new temperature-aware design approach to estimate and predict thermal behavior early in the design process. With FireBolt, designers can integrate the IC design; chip, package and ambient temperature conditions; and an understanding of the detailed temperature on individual devices and wires to predict the true performance and reliability of a design throughout the design process and in its final environment. Using this approach during the design stage allows designers to make the changes necessary to correct temperature gradients, thus preventing devastating impact on chip performance, reliability, cost, and project schedule. Never before have designers had access to detailed full-chip temperature information.

"We are pleased at this honor from the EDA industry and EDN magazine and at the growing recognition of the need for temperature-aware design," said Chandra. "Until now, designers have had to assume either that temperature was constant across a chip or that power hotspots were also temperature hotspots. This award is part of the continuing recognition that temperature gradients -- and the ability to pinpoint all areas where gradients are high -- impact chip timing, power and signal integrity."

About the EDN Innovation Awards Program

Now in their 16th year, the EDN Innovation Awards honor the people, products, and technologies that have shaped the electronics industry over the past year. In addition to recognizing today's innovators, the program's mission is to nurture future award-winning designers of tomorrow through an annual contribution to engineering education. EDN donates a portion of the proceeds from the Innovation Awards ceremony to the engineering university chosen by the Innovator of the Year.

EDN - Celebrating 50 Years

Known as the "Voice of the engineer," Waltham, MA-based EDN serves the vital information needs of design engineers and engineering managers worldwide. The EDN franchise includes EDN, EDN Europe, EDN Asia, EDN Australia, EDN China, EDN Japan, and EDN.com. The publication is celebrating its 50th year of publication in 2006.

EDN is published by Reed Business Information (www.reedbusiness.com/us), the largest business-to-business publisher in the U.S. and a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE:RUK)(NYSE:ENL) -- a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors.

About Gradient

Gradient Design Automation Inc. provides electronic design automation (EDA) software tools that solve problems due to temperature and power for nanometer-scale digital, analog and mixed-signal IC designs. The company, founded in 2003, is privately held. For more information, see www.gradient-da.com.