Magma and Tensilica Partner on SoC Design Flow for Diamond Standard Processor Cores.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Magma(R) Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA) and Tensilica(R), Inc., today announced the availability of an RTL-to-GDSII design flow that supports Tensilica's new Diamond Standard processors based on the Blast Create(TM) and Blast Fusion(R) integrated circuit (IC) implementation system. This collaboration enables mutual customers to deliver high-performance designs with Diamond Standard cores in as few as eight weeks. The Diamond Standard processor family includes six cores, ranging from a low-power 32-bit controller to the industry's highest-performance DSP.

"Tensilica's new Diamond Standard processor series fulfills a market need for a full range of processors with a consistent architecture, low power and high performance, so we are pleased to support Magma customers who want to use these processors in their SoC designs," said Michael Ma, vice president of foundry and IP relationships at Magma. "This flow enables our mutual customers to take Diamond Standard core-based designs in a single-pass flow from RTL directly to placement and routing without leaving the Magma system, eliminating iterations and saving valuable effort and time."

Magma's Diamond Standard processor methodology is based on Magma's Blast Create RTL-to-placed gates and the Blast Fusion physical design solutions. It includes flow documentation, floorplanning information, tool scripts and make files. Additionally, Tensilica has completed the Magma IP verification process for the Diamond Standard series and has been added to the growing list of "Magma-Ready" IP providers.

"Magma's design flow is becoming increasingly attractive to SoC designers, and we're proud to work with them to make sure designs with our Diamond Processors can flow smoothly and quickly through this flow," stated Steve Roddy, Tensilica's vice president of marketing.

About Magma

Magma's software for integrated circuit (IC) design is recognized as embodying the best in semiconductor technology. The world's top chip companies use Magma's EDA software to design and verify complex, high-performance ICs for communications, computing, consumer electronics and networking applications, while at the same time reducing design time and costs. Magma provides software for IC implementation, analysis, physical verification, characterization and programmable logic design, and the company's integrated RTL-to-GDSII design flow offers "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon"(TM). Magma is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. with offices around the world. Magma's stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.

About Tensilica

Tensilica was founded in July 1997 to address the growing need for optimized, application-specific microprocessor and DSP solutions in high-volume embedded applications. Using a patented configurable and extensible processor generation technology, Tensilica is the only company that offers a wide range of controller, CPU and specialty DSP processors in both off-the-shelf format via the Diamond Standard series cores, and with full designer-configurability with the Xtensa processor family. Every Tensilica processor core comes complete with a companion software development tool environment, portfolio of system simulation models, and hardware implementation tool support. For more information on Tensilica's patented approach to the creation of application-specific building blocks for SOC design, visit www.tensilica.com.

Editors' Notes:

--Tensilica and Xtensa are registered trademarks belonging to Tensilica, Inc. Blast Fusion and Magma and are registered trademarks, and Blast Create and "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon" are trademarks of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

--Tensilica's announced licensees include ALPS, AMCC (JNI Corporation), Astute Networks, Atheros, ATI, Avago Technologies, Avision, Bay Microsystems, Berkeley Wireless Research Center, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Conexant Systems, Cypress, Crimson Microsystems, ETRI, FUJIFILM Microdevices, Fujitsu Ltd., Hudson Soft, Hughes Network Systems, Ikanos Communications, LG Electronics, Marvell, NEC Laboratories America, NEC Corporation, NetEffect, Neterion, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), NVIDIA, Olympus Corporation, sci-worx, Seiko Epson, Solid State Systems, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Stretch, TranSwitch Corporation, u-Nav Microelectronics and Victor Company of Japan (JVC).