For more information, please contact:

Model Technology Contact Kari Fahrenkopf Marketing Communications 503.526.1693 karif@model.com

Public Relations Contact Jason Khoury Benjamin Group/BSMG Worldwide 415.352.2628 jason@benjamingroup.com

PORTLAND, Ore. - Feb. 19, 2001 - Model Technology™, a Mentor Graphics company, today announced ModelSim™ 5.5, a powerful new version of its industry-leading HDL simulation tool aimed at today's multi-million gate ASIC and FPGA designs. In addition, ModelSim 5.5 offers significant enhancements in memory utilization, interactive debug features, testbench and regression test support.

Building on its leadership in mixed-language simulation, ModelSim 5.5 offers substantial performance improvements for both VHDL and Verilog. RTL simulation performance is up to 2X higher for both Verilog and VHDL. And Verilog gate-level simulation users will benefit from a 2-4X performance improvement along with two to three times smaller memory footprints - enabling very large designs to still fit into 32-bit workstations.

"With across the board performance increases plus tremendous new functionality in debug and ease of use, ModelSim 5.5 offers an unprecedented leap in capability for our customers," said John Lenyo, director of marketing for Model Technology. "We've been gaining market share across all segments, and ModelSim 5.5 will enable us to reach even more designers."

Best Price/Performance Ratio For Demanding Applications
With ModelSim 5.5, Model Technology extends its lead in simulation price/performance. In the typical simulation farm environment of today's large design projects, ModelSim 5.5 delivers dramatic productivity and financial gains. Owners of ModelSim simulation farms will double the capacity of their farms, effectively reducing their cost/simulation cycle by half overnight - without any additional investment.

Improved Ease-of-use and Enhanced Test and Debug
ModelSim 5.5 includes many significant improvements targeted at higher productivity, including waveform compare, a new Signal Spy™ feature, and waveform compression.

A new Waveform Compare tool offers both text reporting and an advanced graphical interface that simplifies setting up regression test environments and speeds up the debugging of design problems. Waveform Compare is completely integrated into the ModelSim environment and comes as a standard feature of ModelSim SE. It is also available as an upgrade for ModelSim EE and PE users.

Using ModelSim 5.5's new Signal Spy™ feature, users will for the first time have an easy way to see signals buried deep in a VHDL or mixed-language design hierarchy. Signal Spy enables designers to monitor any signal anywhere in the design and incorporate it into their testbench without having to modify their existing code.

Another ModelSim 5.5 feature, waveform file compression, delivers an average 10X reduction in waveform file size which will dramatically improve the loading and scrolling times of large waveform files.

Pricing and Availability
ModelSim 5.5 will be released in March 2001. Perpetual pricing starts at $4495 for ModelSim Personal Edition (PE) and $19,000 for ModelSim Special Edition (SE). Term licenses are also available.

About Model Technology
Model Technology Inc., a Mentor Graphics Company (NASDAQ: MENT), is a leading supplier of HDL simulation tools. Model Technology provides ASIC and FPGA designers with the latest in simulation technology regardless of the language (VHDL, Verilog or mixed-HDL) or platform (Unix, Windows, Linux) used. With more than 60,000 licensed units sold worldwide, ModelSim is the most popular HDL simulator in the industry. For information on the nearest Model Technology representative or Model Technology products, call (503) 641-1340, email sales@model.com, or visit www.model.com.