Monterey Design Software Adopted by Canon in Australia; Canon Expands Use of Monterey Physical Design Solution Beyond Japan.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002

Monterey Design Systems and Canon, Inc. today announced that Canon Information Systems Research Australia (CISRA) has chosen Monterey to provide their physical implementation solution. They cited the successful completion of a 1.2 million gate evaluation design using a 0.13 micron 8 metal-layer library from Artisan Components as well as recent successful tapeouts by Canon in Japan as the main reasons for their decision.

"We monitored Canon's use of Monterey tools in Japan very closely and were very impressed at how quickly they were able to tape out their first two chips -- only months after installing the software," said Peter Thomson, Hardware Development Manager at CISRA. "We are establishing our COT implementation flow for the very first time. Therefore, ramp-up time and ease of use were absolutely critical to our decision. We concluded that Monterey is the best choice for us."

See related release at http://www.montereydesign.com/press/2002_06_04.html.

"Canon has been getting great results in Japan with Monterey products and CISRA has recognized the need for their own in-house physical implementation capabilities," said Rick Ader, General Manager of Japan and Asia Operations at Monterey. "We expect many other Canon groups to follow Japan and Australia in adopting the Monterey solution for their internal COT physical design flows."

Shortest Time To Production Usage

Canon evaluated tools from a number of EDA vendors and concluded that the Monterey solution would take the least amount of time and effort to put into production use. Unlike Monterey, other vendors offer design solutions made up of multiple independent point tools. These point tool solutions put the burden of setting up a working design flow on the user, and often cannot be used to reach design closure on challenging designs without significant time spent working around tool limitations.

Lowest Cost of Adoption

Canon did not want a solution that would require an army of engineers to develop, maintain, and use. They wanted a solution that would be easy to learn, easy to use, and would require minimal internal EDA support. Monterey satisfies all of these requirements, enabling Canon to complete their designs on a very tight schedule.

Superior Technical Support

Monterey worked very closely with Canon to validate their design flow using the same Artisan libraries that Canon will be using in production. Canon was able to benefit not only from Monterey's tool expertise, but also their overall experience with physical design methodologies including the critical element of library validation.

About Monterey Design Systems

Monterey Design Systems provides electronic design automation software that enables integrated circuit designers to take their circuits from completed logic design to manufacturing ready output. Built to handle the most demanding semiconductor process requirements, the company's products -- IC Wizard(TM) hierarchical design planner, Sonar(TM) physical prototyper, and Dolphin(R) physical implementation system -- combine to provide the most streamlined physical design flow on the market. Monterey Design Systems is privately held and partners with other leading EDA companies, such as Cadence (NYSE:CDN - news) and Synopsys (Nasdaq:SNPS - news), to ensure interoperability in all existing design flows. Key customers include LSI Logic, STMicroelectronics, Fujitsu Ltd., Flextronics Semiconductor, and NEC Electronics. Monterey Design Systems is located at 894 Ross Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1443, tel: [phone], fax: [phone], http://www.montereydesign.com.

About Canon Inc.

Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leader in the field of professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. Canon's extensive range of products includes copiers, Bubble Jet and laser printers, cameras, video equipment, medical equipment and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment. Originally established in 1937 as Precision Optical Industry, Co., Ltd., a camera manufacturer, Canon has successfully diversified and globalized into an industry leader in professional and consumer imaging systems and solutions. The company has manufacturing and marketing subsidiaries in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania, and a global R&D network with companies based in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Visit the company web site at http://www.canon.com/index.html (English) and http://canon.jp/top.html (Japanese).

About CISRA

Since its inception in 1990, Canon Information Systems Research Australia ("CISRA") has grown to become one of Australia's leading Research and Development organisations. Located in North Ryde, 15km north west of Sydney, CISRA shares a similar time zone to Tokyo, facilitating effective communication with Canon Inc. Building on Canon's strengths, CISRA has been able to recruit the nation's top engineering talent, who have a diverse wealth of experience. CISRA's human resources department has enabled CISRA to respond rapidly to the requirements of emerging technologies such as multimedia, and has brought an influx of expertise and experience in a wide variety of areas. Discover how CISRA is delivering Intelligent Imaging Solutions for Canon. http://www.cisra.com/.

Note to Editors: Monterey, Monterey Design Systems, and Dolphin are registered trademarks and IC Wizard and Sonar are trademarks of Monterey Design Systems. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.