``Synopsys is the leading provider of ASIC synthesis tools in the world,'' said Dennis Kish, vice president of marketing at Actel. ``With these libraries, both Synopsys and Actel customers can now leverage the capabilities provided within Design Compiler and the familiarity of its design environment, while capitalizing on the benefits of our non-volatile, single-chip, reprogrammable ProASIC devices and Designer Series tool flow. This provides designers with the best of both worlds and presents enormous opportunity for our mutual customers.''

With ASIC designers considering the advantages of programmable logic for many projects, design flow compatibility is essential. The combination of Synopsys' Design Compiler and Actel's own Designer Series tool suite provides support for rapid timing closure and hierarchical block-based methodologies, similar to the design methodology used by most ASIC designers. To further reduce or eliminate learning costs, ProASIC is also supported by the Module Compiler(TM) and DesignWare® solutions from Synopsys.

``Actel has provided a unique option for ASIC designers with the ProASIC family -- the benefits of a fine-grained ASIC architecture with the flexibility of a programmable device,'' said Jackie Patterson, director of FPGA marketing at Synopsys. ``With the addition of Design Compiler to the Actel Designer Series tool flow, ASIC designers can now work within a proven design environment while benefiting from the compelling time-to-market advantages of FPGAs.''

Actel's Design Methodology

Actel's Designer Series tool suite was designed to support both ASIC and FPGA design flows. The tool set is based on a complex, multi-million gate-capable ASIC layout tool that includes timing-driven, as well as incremental place and route capabilities. The software integrates a global router, static timing analyzer and an engineering change order (ECO) editor into an advanced design flow. Additional capabilities and benefits include automated memory generation, floorplanning, power estimation, a layout viewer for identifying and optimizing critical paths and standard formats for creating custom wireload models for future synthesis passes.

Non-volatile, Single-Chip, Reprogrammable Solutions

The ProASIC 500K family consists of four devices ranging in size from 98,000 to 473,000 system gates and includes up to 65k bits of embedded two-port memory. The clocking architecture allows the use of up to 56 low-skew clock spines for external or internal clock signals. The ProASIC 500K family combines the advantages of ASICs with the benefits of programmable devices through its non-volatile flash technology. Actel's ProASIC solutions make it possible to create high-density systems using existing ASIC or FPGA design flows and tools, shortening time to production. Migration to an ASIC is also made easy by ProASIC's ASIC-like design flow, which supports rapid verification against the original RTL test bench.

Pricing and Availability

Actel's Designer Series software is available on a 45-day free evaluation license. For more information regarding Actel's Designer Series software, its ProASIC devices or Design Compiler libraries for Actel devices, check the Actel website at www.actel.com. Design Compiler is available directly from Synopsys. For more information, visit the Synopsys website at www.synopsys.com.

About Actel

Actel Corporation is a supplier of innovative programmable logic solutions, including field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) based on antifuse and flash technologies and embedded programmable gate arrays (EPGAs) based on SRAM technology, as well as high-performance intellectual property (IP) cores, software development tools and design services. Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Actel employs approximately 500 people worldwide. The Company is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is located at 955 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, California, 94086-4533. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com .

NOTE: The Actel name and logo are registered trademarks of Actel Corporation. All other trademarks and servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.