Synplicity Delivers Pro Version of Its Amplify ISSP Software to NEC Electronics' Customers; Customized Amplify ISSP Pro Software Delivers Better Area and Timing QoR for NEC Electronics' ISSP Devices.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Synplicity Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP), a leading supplier of software for the design and verification of semiconductors, today announced an enhanced version of its Amplify(R) physical synthesis software that features additional customizations for NEC Electronics' ISSP(TM) structured ASIC devices. The new features in Synplicity's Amplify ISSP Pro software enable customers to achieve the highest quality of results for their ISSP devices -- in overall area, placement and timing. Specifically, Synplicity made many additions to its embedded clock tree synthesis approach for ISSP devices, whereby customers can leverage the technology to obtain better knowledge of the device's clock network and avoid design iterations. Additionally, the software features several other enhancements that help enable users to meet their ISSP performance goals in the shortest amount of time, including the new Affinity Placer(TM) and a floorplan input checker. With these improvements, Synplicity expects to continue to deliver the most advanced technology for structured and platform ASIC design.

"NEC Electronics' ISSP devices offer customers a unique structured ASIC option," said Andy Haines, vice president of marketing at Synplicity. "For more than two years, Synplicity has worked closely with the leading structured/platform ASIC vendors in order to offer support for their unique architectures by delivering best-in-class design tools. Moving forward, we are committed to continuing this trend by offering improvements to our structured/platform ASIC physical synthesis solutions. With our Amplify ISSP Pro software, NEC Electronics' ISSP customers will be able to continue using Synplicity's familiar, easy-to-use physical synthesis software in their ISSP design flow to achieve the results they have come to expect from Synplicity."

The Amplify ISSP Pro software offers ISSP customers several unique technological innovations that specifically target NEC Electronics' ISSP architecture, including embedded clock-tree synthesis technology. With a customized embedded clock-driven memory placement approach in the Amplify ISSP Pro software, users can generate optimal legal placement for embedded ISSP memories. In addition, by understanding the delays within the embedded clock network the Amplify ISSP software can perform setup and hold analysis and fix-up. This feature eliminates design iterations by accounting for the impact of the clock network on the floorplan and timing prior to handoff. In the Amplify ISSP Pro software, both register and memory placement are done based on a preexisting knowledge of the ISSP architecture.

Additional Features Within the Amplify ISSP Pro Software

Included in the Amplify ISSP Pro software is the new Affinity Placer that provides users a pre-placement constraint mechanism to keep conflicting paths from interfering with each other's performance. The Affinity Placer can yield significantly higher quality of results for circuit placement by specifically addressing the high speed I/Os offered in the ISSP product. The software also includes a floorplan input checker in order to check the quality of the floorplan and consistency of information against ISSP-specific rules before performing a physical synthesis run. The floorplan input checker validates the input and makes sure it is a "legal" floorplan for the ISSP master before committing it to physical synthesis. This feature enables users to catch design problems much earlier in the design flow and reduce the number of iterations.

The Amplify ISSP Pro software also enables the placement of firm IP through the software's floorplan editor. If the core is placed in an illegal position, the floorplan editor will automatically snap the core to the nearest legal placement. Specifically for ISSP90, the timing delay estimation model has been enhanced to achieve better timing correlation. The combination of these new features and overall improvements in the software provides up to 10 percent better timing results and up to 30 percent improved runtime compared to previous versions of the Amplify ISSP software.

Availability

The Amplify ISSP Pro software is available now. For more information, visit Synplicity at http://www.synplicity.com.

About Synplicity's Amplify Family of Structured/Platform ASIC Products

The Amplify family of structured/platform ASIC products includes customized design tools that provide a one-pass placed gates handoff. These tools directly target and understand each unique structured/platform ASIC architecture and typically enable 15-20 percent speed and area improvements over conventional design flows, thereby bringing results much closer to that of standard-cell ASICs. The physical synthesis tools also solve the timing closure problem by being fully integrated and correlated to the structured/platform ASIC vendors tools. The combination of Synplicity tools and the vendors' pre-verified architectures automatically solves problems for ASIC designers such as design for test, power distribution, clock distribution, signal integrity, and manufacturability. Earlier this year, Synplicity's family of platform/structured ASIC products received the 2005 DesignVision Award, which recognizes technologies, applications, products and services judged to be the most unique and beneficial to the industry.

About Synplicity

Synplicity(R) Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP) is a leading supplier of innovative synthesis, verification and physical implementation software solutions that enable the rapid and effective design and verification of semiconductors. Synplicity's high-quality, high-performance tools significantly reduce costs and time to market for FPGA, structured/platform ASIC and cell-based/COT ASIC designers. The company's underlying Behavior Extracting Synthesis Technology(R) (BEST(TM)), which is embedded in its logical, physical and verification tools, and has led to Synplicity's top position in FPGA synthesis, now provides the same fast runtimes and quality of results to structured/platform ASIC, cell-based ASIC and COT customers. The company's fast, easy-to-use products support industry standard design languages (VHDL and Verilog) and run on popular platforms. Synplicity employs over 280 people in its 20 facilities worldwide. Synplicity is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information visit http://www.synplicity.com.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding the performance and achievements of Synplicity's Amplify family of structured/platform ASIC synthesis tools and the position of Synplicity and its products in the structured/platform ASIC. In some cases, you will be able to identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "believes," "can" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the forward-looking statements and Synplicity's results to differ materially, including the performance and benefits of Synplicity's software relative to relevant industry methods or standards, design flaws, design difficulties or other problems with the Amplify software and the growth and changing technical requirements in the structured/platform ASIC market. For additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Synplicity, see its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other periodic reports filed with the SEC from time to time, including its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Although Synplicity believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Synplicity cannot guarantee the future performance or achievements of its software. In addition, neither Synplicity nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of these forward-looking statements. Synplicity disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement.

Synplicity, Amplify and Behavior Extracting Synthesis Technology are registered trademarks of Synplicity Inc. BEST is a trademark of Synplicity Inc. All other brands or products are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners.