Synplicity and Lightspeed Semiconductor Ink Agreement to Develop Custom ASIC Synthesis Tools.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2003 Companies Team to Enable Optimized Results for Lightspeed's Luminance The amount of brightness, measured in lumens, that is given off by a pixel or area on a screen. For example, dark red and bright red would have the same chrominance, but a different luminance. Modular Array Products Synplicity, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP SYNP Synchronization Profile ), a leading supplier of software for the design and verification of semiconductors, and Lightspeed Semiconductor today announced the companies have signed a joint technology development agreement to provide support for Lightspeed's 0.13-micron Luminance family of Modular Array ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) Pronounced "a-sick." A chip that is custom designed for a specific application rather than a general-purpose chip such as a microprocessor. devices. Under the terms of the agreement, Synplicity will develop custom synthesis mapping technology for its Synplify ASIC(R) software, optimized to deliver enhanced performance, density and design productivity for Lightspeed's Luminance devices. Lightspeed will distribute Synplicity's Synplify ASIC .sel library and accept Synplify ASIC netlists and timing analysis results as input to Lightspeed's back-end P&R tools. "With up to 10 million gates and the ability to deliver production 0.13-micron silicon in less than three months, our Luminance architecture leads the industry in delivering the density and time to market advantages design teams need to achieve aggressive design goals," said Richard Terrill, VP/Business Development for Lightspeed Semiconductor. "We chose to work with Synplicity due to their experience in delivering high-performance, high-productivity synthesis technology and expertise in developing custom mapping technology. The Luminance-specific customization that Synplicity is doing will provide a 15% improvement in timing results over standard Synplify ASIC." This development project builds on Synplicity's existing support for Lightspeed ASICs. Citing the software's ability to deliver fast timing convergence, Lightspeed has offered ASIC library support for the synthesis software for more than a year. "For complex ASIC devices such as Lightspeed's Luminance products, the availability of high-performance, high-productivity design tools customized for the architecture is critical to designer success," said Ken McElvain, chief technical officer of Synplicity. "Over the past year, we have heard positive feedback from Lightspeed's ASIC customers regarding our Synplify ASIC software, and look forward to extending support to the Luminance devices to help enable this next-generation modular array technology. We believe our close relationship with Lightspeed will provide our mutual customers with a best-in-class, high-capacity custom synthesis solution that will offer fast runtimes and excellent results." About Synplicity's ASIC Synthesis Solution Introduced in June 2001, Synplicity's Synplify ASIC software leverages the company's proven synthesis technology, delivers high quality of results and features order of magnitude A change in quantity or volume as measured by the decimal point. For example, from tens to hundreds is one order of magnitude. Tens to thousands is two orders of magnitude; tens to millions is three orders of magnitude, etc. runtime improvements over traditional synthesis products. The Synplify ASIC software has been production proven through customer tapeout successes and endorsements from leading ASIC vendors, and has been flow tested with leading EDA (1) (Electronic Design Automation) Using the computer to design, lay out, verify and simulate the performance of electronic circuits on a chip or printed circuit board. tools. This solution offers a unique top-down design A design technique that starts with the highest level of an idea and works its way down to the lowest level of detail. See top-down programming. (programming) top-down design - (Or "stepwise refinement"). methodology that enables designers to perform timing-driven synthesis on up to two million gates in a single block, supporting matching hierarchy and constraints in both synthesis and place-and-route steps. Additionally, the Synplify ASIC software offers a unique MultiPoint(TM) design flow for fast, high-performance hierarchical synthesis for any size of ASIC. The Synplify ASIC software is the only ASIC synthesis solution to provide performance-optimized synthesis capability for the Luminance architecture from Lightspeed. About Lightspeed's Luminance Technology Utilizing a two metal mask, one via mask customization in conjunction with TSMC's 0.13-micron eight-layer copper, high-performance CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit design. It is found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. process, Lightspeed's Luminance Modular Array ASICs will provide up to 10 million usable ASIC gates and up to five million bits of embedded dual-port SRAM See static RAM. SRAM - static random-access memory . The high-performance logic fabric supports system speeds up to 700MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. , and is optimally suited to implement a wide range of soft and firm IP. The high-density architecture includes embedded PLLs, SRAMs and configurable I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output cells. These elements are optimized for maximum array efficiency that delivers an unparalleled degree of versatility for designing high-performance systems across a wide range of applications. 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 Emergent Design is a name coined by D. Cavallo to describe a theoretical framework for the implementation of systemic change in education and learning environments. This examines how choice of design methodology contributes to the success or failure of education reforms through 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 New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). , 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 Synplicity Synplicity, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP) is a leading provider of software products that enable the rapid and effective design and verification of semiconductors used in networking and communications, computer and peripheral, consumer and military/aerospace electronics systems. Recognizing the company's industry-leading position, since the year 2000 Dataquest has named Synplicity as the #1 provider of PLD (Programmable Logic Device) Refers to a variety of logic chips that are programmable at the customer's site, the customer being the vendor of the finished chip, not the end user. synthesis tools, announcing a 54 percent market share in 2001. Synplicity leverages its innovative logic synthesis The conversion of a high-level electronic circuit description into a list of logic gates and their interconnections, called the "netlist." Every logic synthesis program understands some subset of Verilog and VHDL. , physical synthesis and verification software solutions to improve performance and shorten development time for complex programmable logic devices, application specific integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. (ASICs) and system-on-chip (SoC) integrated circuits. The company's fast, easy-to-use products offer high quality of results, support industry-standard design languages (VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) A hardware description language (HDL) used to design electronic systems at the component, board and system level. VHDL allows models to be developed at a very high level of abstraction. and Verilog) and run on popular platforms. As of December 31, 2002, Synplicity employed more than 250 people in its 20 facilities worldwide. Synplicity is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information on Synplicity, visit http://www.synplicity.com. The specific features and new functionality of existing products developed with or for third parties as described in this press release remain at the sole discretion of Synplicity, Inc. and no warranty is made as to whether the specific functionalities of such existing products or the success of product integration with those of third parties will occur as described in the press release. Synplicity and Synplify ASIC are registered trademarks of Synplicity, Inc. MultiPoint is a trademark of Synplicity, Inc. All other names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners. |
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