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SAN JOSE, Calif., July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Numerical Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMTC), the leading provider of subwavelength design-to-silicon solutions to the semiconductor industry, today announced the introduction of two new products that enable integrated device manufacturers, fabless companies, and foundries to quickly embed advanced process information in the standard cell libraries that are required for every integrated circuit (IC) design. The new easy-to-use products, part of the Cadabra(TM) automated library development product line, offer library developers and chip design teams a fast path to high-quality libraries for new process technologies.

The new abraMAP(TM) product for next-generation cell migration enables chip designers to map existing application-specific standard cells and standard cell libraries to new manufacturing processes in order to begin chip design. The abraKAZAM(TM) product combines Cadabra's advanced cell migration and creation capabilities, providing the most efficient and flexible library development environment. This enables chip designers to optimize their designs for performance, density and manufacturability with complete control over turnaround time.

``IC manufacturers can only realize their return on investment in new process technology once it is accessible to design teams,'' stated Atul Sharan, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Numerical Technologies. ``With the increasing complexity and subwavelength effects of 0.13-micron processes, creating the required libraries from scratch may be a time consuming process. With the combination of automation, manufacturability, ease-of-use and quality-of-results, the Cadabra products reduce time-to-market and improve productivity.''

abraMAP enables cell design reuse by re-targeting existing standard cell layouts from one manufacturing process to another. The result is a layout-vs-schematic (LVS) and design-rule-check (DRC) correct cell layout with the high quality and density required for advanced chip designs. abraMAP offers flexibility and ease-of-use that is well beyond traditional compaction tools.

abraMAP meets the requirements of the most advanced subwavelength process technologies through its support of conditional table-based design rules, dead-zone design rules, asymmetrical contacts and variable gate extensions.

abraKAZAM combines advanced migration and creation engines from abraCAD(TM) and abraMAP in a single tool. This development gives users the flexibility to easily migrate their existing library to new process technology, and complement their IP with application or process-specific cell creation.

Both tools are linked to the user-friendly abraPLAN(TM) graphical setup capability. abraPLAN, announced in September 2000 with the abraCAD cell creation tool, allows library designers to complete the setup of technology file, architecture and layout preferences within a short time period. The setup rules are automatically applied to each cell, and can be reused for either creation or migration at a later time.

Pricing and availability:

abraMAP and abraKAZAM are available immediately. Time-based licensing for abraMAP begins at $60,000. Time-based licensing for abraKAZAM begins at $140,000 per year.

About Cadabra Products:

The Cadabra product line is a set of industry leading tools that offer high productivity in the development of handcrafted quality cell layouts that form the fundamental building blocks used in the standard cell, semi-custom, and custom IC designs. Current worldwide customers include more than 20 top semiconductor vendors, third party library vendors, and leading fabless semiconductor companies in the graphics and communications markets. The production-proven products have been used to develop more than 100 production standard-cell libraries. Additional information about Cadabra is available on the Web at http://www.cadabradesign.com .

About Numerical:

Numerical Technologies, Inc., ranked as one of the 100 fastest growing technology companies by Forbes ASAP and the number one best small electronics company in Electronic Business, develops and markets proprietary technology, software tools and services that enable the semiconductor industry to produce subwavelength integrated circuits, i.e., integrated circuits with components smaller than the wavelength of light used to create circuit patterns on silicon. Numerical's products and industry alliances form a comprehensive design-to-silicon solution that enables the creation of smaller, faster and more power-efficient semiconductors using available manufacturing equipment. Numerical's customers include the world's leading semiconductor companies, design automation tool vendors, semiconductor equipment suppliers and photomask manufacturers. Additional information about the company is available on the Web at http://www.numeritech.com .

NOTE: abraMAP , abraKAZAM, abraCAD, abraPLAN and Library Factory are all trademarks of Numerical Technologies.