Submit Comments

Printer Friendly Version

LAS VEGAS, June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The momentum continued today for the recently formed X Initiative (June 4, 2001) when Artisan Components, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARTI), a global leader in intellectual property (IP) components, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., one of the world's leading producers of consumer electronics, and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), the world's third largest independent semiconductor company, joined the consortium's growing roster of market leaders from throughout the semiconductor supply chain. The X Initiative now includes 14 members, with true global representation, collectively committed to accelerating the adoption and fabrication of semiconductor chips featuring the breakthrough X Architecture unveiled just two weeks ago.

Representing a radical, new interconnect scheme, the X Architecture is the first to enable the pervasive use of diagonal wiring on a chip. The result is a dramatic 20-percent-or-greater reduction in the total interconnect on each chip. Based on initial evaluations, this wire-length reduction is expected to deliver simultaneous improvements of 10+ percent greater chip performance, 20+ percent less power dissipation and 30+ percent more working chips per wafer for complex integrated circuits (ICs) such as systems-on-chip (SoCs).

``The X Architecture is the first significant innovation to reduce interconnect length in the physical design of today's chips,'' stated Philippe Magarshack, vice president of design automation and libraries at STMicroelectronics. ``We're constantly engaging in new technologies that may benefit our customers in terms of chip performance, die size and power dissipation. The X Architecture promises significant benefits for ST and our customers.''

Echoing the breakthrough nature of the X Architecture, Mark Templeton, president and CEO of Artisan Components, explained that in addition to its potential for significant performance gains, the X Architecture is compatible with existing cell libraries, memory cells, compilers and IP cores. ``We see our participation in the X Initiative as a win for our customers. By defining the X Architecture to make use of existing libraries such as Artisan's, we believe we can accelerate its adoption, as well as speed the industry toward realizing the speed, power and area benefits that the architecture will enable.''

``Like most other semiconductor companies, we at Matsushita face the constant challenge of making smaller, faster, lower power and less expensive chips that contain more functionality with each generation,'' said Yoshifumi Okamoto, general manager of the EDA technology development group at Matsushita. ``We think the X Architecture has the capability to become a major technology for the next generation of products.''

According to Jan Willis, X Initiative steering group member and vice president of business development with Simplex Solutions, it's clear that the benefits afforded by the X Architecture are compelling the industry to become educated about this breakthrough. The X Initiative's mission is to provide that education for the entire semiconductor supply chain. In addition, X Initiative members gain access to information and opportunities for supply chain collaboration not available to non-members.

``Speaking on behalf of the entire steering group, we are extremely pleased that the membership list now reflects a truly global commitment to the success of the X Architecture. We look forward to continuing interest and expanding membership in the X Initiative in the months ahead,'' Willis concluded.

X Initiative membership is open to all companies throughout the semiconductor supply chain. The Initiative's first meeting, which is being held today in conjunction with the Design Automation Conference, will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT in Room N225 of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev.

About the X Initiative

The X Initiative, a group of leading companies from throughout the semiconductor industry, is chartered with accelerating the availability and fabrication of the X Architecture, a revolutionary interconnect architecture based on the pervasive use of diagonal routing. The X Initiative's five-year mission is to provide an independent source of education about the X Architecture, to facilitate support and fabrication of the X Architecture through the semiconductor industry supply chain, and to survey usage of the X Architecture to track its adoption. Representing leaders spanning the entire design-to-silicon infrastructure, X Initiative members include: Artisan Components, Inc. (www.artisan.com); Dai Nippon Printing (www.dnp.co.jp); DuPont Photomasks, Inc. (www.photomask.com); Etec Systems, Inc., an Applied Materials, Inc. company (www.etec.com); KLA-Tencor Corporation (www.kla-tencor.com); Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (www.matsushita.co.jp); Numerical Technologies, Inc. (www.numeritech.com); PDF Solutions, Inc. (www.pdf.com); Simplex Solutions, Inc. (www.simplex.com); STMicroelectronics (www.st.com); Tensilica, Inc. (www.tensilica.com); Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd. (www.toshiba-machine.com); Toshiba Corporation (www.toshiba.com); and Virtual Silicon Technology, Inc. (www.virtual-silicon.com). Membership is open to all companies throughout the semiconductor supply chain; materials can be found at www.xinitiative.org.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements (including, without limitation, information regarding semiconductor design, production and performance improvements resulting from the X Architecture, the compatibility of the X Architecture with current technology, the future success of X Architecture technology and the ability of certain of the X Initiative members' to support the X Architecture) that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the results of X Initiative members and other events to differ materially from managements' current expectations.

Actual results and events may differ materially due to a number of factors including, among others: future strategic decisions made by the X Initiative members; failure of the X Architecture to enable the production of designs that are feasible and are competitive with current designs or future alternatives; future strategic decisions made by X Initiative members or others that inhibit the development of the X Architecture; demand for advanced semiconductors that are developed using the X Architecture; cost feasibility of the production of semiconductors designed using the X Architecture; and the rapid pace of technological change in the semiconductor industry. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties described in the most recent filings of the X Initiative members with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The X Initiative members assume no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this release.

SOURCE Artisan Components, Inc.; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.;
STMicroelectronics