Lightspeed Taps Sequence for Signal Integrity and Extraction; Easy Integration, Fast Runtimes, Higher Accuracy Make Tools Top Choice for ``Modular Array ASIC'' Pioneer.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2003

Sequence Design's ShowTime, the advanced nanometer analysis tool for SoC timing and signal integrity, and Columbus-Turbo for high-speed extraction, are helping Lightspeed Semiconductor achieve breakthrough design runtimes according to Michael Sydow, Lightspeed vice president of marketing and applications engineering.

"With ShowTime we were able to perform not only timing, but noise and glitch analyses as well, on a 21-clock, 70,000-instance design in just 30 minutes," Sydow said.

"We have also been impressed with Columbus-Turbo's 3 million nets-per-hour speed, and by how easy both tools were to integrate into our design environment. The combination of these tools have helped us maintain our time-to-market with deep submicron customization technologies."

Lightspeed's sophisticated designs include the Luminance(TM) family of Modular Array ASICs that offer up to 10 million gates for the design of custom chips. Designed for a two-metal mask, these devices are built on TSMC's 130 nanometer, 8-layer copper, high-performance CMOS process technology.

More than two dozen major customers around the world are currently employing Physical-Studio and ShowTime in their most advanced designs. Together, the tools have been used in more than 110 tapeouts at feature sizes as small as 130 nanometers.

"We are honored to work with Lightspeed, a company that prides itself on offering the fastest timing convergence in the ASIC industry," Vic Kulkarni, Sequence president and CEO said. "The combination of our static timing analysis and extraction technology will permit Lightspeed to concurrently address a range of signal-integrity challenges. We look forward to helping Lightspeed deliver silicon success through its Modular Array ASIC flow."

About ShowTime

The industry's first comprehensive nanometer static analysis tool for block-level and top-level abstraction analysis of 10 million-plus gate designs, ShowTime allows users to diagnose acute timing and signal-integrity problems impacting chip timing and functionality. The product can be integrated with popular synthesis-to-layout flows to enable complete, accurate, and fast analysis at the block and full-chip level. With ShowTime, design teams can extend their existing methodologies to simultaneously address timing, crosstalk, and inductance effects. Leading benefits for ShowTime are:

-- Correlation within 2 percent of PrimeTime

-- Multi-functionality: performs unified timing, crosstalk delay and crosstalk glitch analysis -- crosstalk analysis correlates to within 10 percent of SPICE

-- A 10X increase in speed for timing, crosstalk delay and crosstalk glitch over other methods running timing analysis alone

-- Integration with Columbus-Turbo for faster analysis-to-layout links

About Columbus-Turbo

Columbus-Turbo is part of Sequence's ExtractionStage, a suite of extraction tools delivering unrivaled speed, accuracy, and capacity for designs below 180 nanometers. Key features and benefits of ExtractionStage include:

-- Accurate RLC parasitics within 5 percent of field solvers

-- Standard-cell extraction speeds of 3 million nets-per-hour on

an 8-CPU configuration

-- Calibre and Diva flow integration for GDSII extraction in the

Cadence Analog Design Environment, with Sequence Smart Probing

technology

-- Net-by-net extraction to reduce capacity demands

-- Flexible configurations for a variety of analog devices

-- Support for signal and power integrity design flows

The ExtractionStage product suite has been developed from patented advances in process characterization, electrical modeling, and extraction-engine development. This proprietary technology gives designers the benefit of leading copper modeling, electrical inductance, incremental extraction, and many other sub-100nm features.

About Lightspeed Semiconductor

Lightspeed Semiconductor delivers high-performance custom silicon with the fastest turn-around times and lowest total cost.

Modular Array ASICs are the emergent design choice for the majority of custom digital applications. Our methodology delivers production-ready devices in prototype timeframes. Our groundbreaking Luminance technology secures Lightspeed as The Easy Way to ASIC(TM).

Lightspeed Semiconductor maintains design centers in California, Texas, New Hampshire, and the UK. Lightspeed has seven direct sales offices and more than 50 sales representative locations worldwide. For more information visit http://www.lightspeed.com/.

About Sequence

Sequence Design, Inc., the SoC Design Closure Company(SM), enables system-on-chip designers to bring higher-performance and lower-power integrated circuits quickly to fabrication. Sequence's power and signal-integrity software give its more than 100 customers the competitive advantage they need to excel in aggressive technology markets, despite demanding complexity and time-to-market issues of nanometer design.

Sequence has worldwide development and field service operations. The company was recently named by Reed Electronics as one of the top 50 companies to watch in the electronics industry. Sequence is privately held. Sequence is a member of Cadence Design Systems' Connections(TM) and Mentor Graphics' Open Door(TM) partnership programs. Additional information is available at sequencedesign.com.

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