Mentor Graphics Announces the Latest Release of Its Board Station Printed Circuit Board Design Flow.

WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT), the market leader in printed circuit board (PCB) design software, today announced the release of the latest version of its Board Station(R) design flow for large, enterprise customers. The Board Station flow includes tools for design creation, layout and manufacture, and is designed to meet the requirements of enterprise design teams. This release offers improved integration with the enterprise, as well as improved design productivity and 'what if' signal integrity (SI) analysis.

"Advances in PCB fabrication technologies, system performance and FPGA densities/pin counts, compounded by emerging government regulations such as RoHS, continue to challenge our most aggressive customers as they strive to meet competitive time-to-market goals," said Dan Boncella, director of marketing, Systems Design Division, Mentor Graphics. "This new release of our Board Station flow addresses these challenges by continuing to tightly integrate our high speed pre- and post-layout analysis tools, library and data management, and adds PCB interactive routing productivity enhancements."

This version of Board Station offers the advanced design features, data management and library capabilities required in the enterprise environment, with teams of designers leveraging data and processes from multiple locations in a global organization.

New Feature Overview

--Library and data management -- Tighter integration with DMS and added functionality to provide off-the-shelf RoHS design-for-compliance capabilities

--Constraint editor system (CES) -- Addition of electrical rules entry, layout and analysis functionality to complement the high-speed physical rules already provided

--Signal integrity verification -- Addition of the newly released ICX(R) Pro(TM) Explorer functionality to the flow, our next generation high-speed constraint development tool

--Design layout -- Significant productivity enhancement capabilities including:

--  Additional support for layout of flex boards

        --  Addition of trace glossing so designers can more closely
            control interactive routing on dense designs

        --  Hard and soft auto-routing "fences" to help control
            routing around dense BGAs as opposed to through them
            resulting in higher routing completion rates

        --  Additional gate and pin swapping capabilities to optimize
            layout

--FPGA-on-Board -- Improved integration of I/O Designer(TM) to accommodate high pin count, high performance FPGA implementation on the PCB

Board Station Flow Overview

Board Station is the world leading solution for the design of highly complex printed circuit boards. It is the most comprehensive PCB design solution on the market today. The depth and breadth of capability and technology support in the Board Station flow is enhanced through tight integration of the flow and the ability to add extensive customization. Board Station has a 20-year legacy of designing cutting edge PCBs, which has been leveraged to produce the best version ever released. Whether the challenge is high-speed design, enterprise automation, library management, global team design, rapid time to market, or all of the above, Board Station is the premier design automation solution.

Pricing and Availability

Board Station is available immediately. For more information, visit http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb/boardstation/index.cfm or call 800-547-3000.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of over $725 million and employs approximately 4,050 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

Mentor Graphics, ICX and Board Station are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. Expedition, ICX Pro and I/O Designer are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.