Mentor Graphics Inventra Intellectual Property Selected by Stepmind for High-Speed Wireless LAN Applications

Emerging Wireless LAN Start-up Turns to Mentor for Critical USB Function Controller

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2001-- Mentor Graphics® Corp. (Nasdaq: MENT - news), the leading independent provider of intellectual property (IP) solutions and services, today announced that its Inventra(TM) Universal Serial Bus (USB) function controller was selected by Stepmind, a developer of high-speed wireless Local Area Network (LAN) solutions.

The Inventra USB function controller will be featured in a broad range of current and future USB applications, with varying demands of low to high-speed, including products for HiperLAN and the IEEE 802.11 domain.

Stepmind, a start-up based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, operates in the field of high-speed wireless data transmission. The company's mission is to offer complex RF, analog and digital system-on-chip intellectual property to be used in digital wireless products.

"When looking for a USB function controller, we sought IP from a reliable supplier with a reputation for quality," said Alain Jolivet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Stepmind. "After a review of competing vendors, we selected Mentor's Inventra USB function controller because of its comprehensive support and smooth integration path into our ARM-based design flow. Our experience with Mentor has been so beneficial that Mentor Graphics is now a preferred supplier of USB IP for Stepmind."

"As consumer and business products are linked to wireless networks for home and office automation, Mentor Graphics sees a large opportunity for high-speed USB cores in LAN applications," said Dr. Susheel Chandra, General Manager, Mentor Graphics, Inventra Intellectual Property division. "Stepmind is an emerging player in the high-speed LAN market. By providing Stepmind with proven IP and world-class support, Mentor Graphics enabled Stepmind design teams to focus on developing competitive product differentiators, without having to worry about USB IP integration issues."

The Mentor Graphics USB Controller Family

According to Gartner's Dataquest, Mentor Graphics is rated the leading broad line supplier of reusable soft-core solutions and services. The Inventra USB cores perform packet encoding, decoding and error checking functions, shielding the user from the details of USB transfer operations. Inventra USB cores are delivered to the highest standards and are available in Verilog and VHDL, with full testbench and documentation. Firmware is also available for application developers. For more information, please visit www.mentor.com/inventra.

About STEPMIND

Founded in July 2000 by Alain and Andre Jolivet, Stepmind is the story of two brothers who decided, after having successful careers, to move on and start anew with their own company in wireless domain. Stepmind is strongly capitalized, with a starting capital of more than 98 millions Euros and its staff of 65 is mainly composed of engineers with many years of successful technical expertise in the domain of digital wireless. Stepmind operates in the field of Wireless High Speed Data, offering RF, Analog and Digital complex Systems-on-Chip Intellectual Property to OEM or Foundry customers (including GSM/GPRS/EDGE solutions and HiperLAN 2 / IEEE 802.11a solutions). Stepmind's offer starts from Technology analysis and SoC integration consulting to complete design of mixed signal and RF ASIC. World Wide Web site: www.stepmind.com/

About Mentor Graphics Corporation

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT - news) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of more than $600 million and employs approximately 3,000 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark of Mentor Graphics Corp. Inventra is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corp. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

     Mentor Graphics
     Larry Toda, 503/685.1664
     larry_toda@mentor.com
           or
     Stepmind
     Stephane Galfre, +33 1 41 10 29 13
     stephane.galfre@stepmind.com
           or
     Benjamin Group/BSMG Worldwide
     Jeremiah Glodoveza, 415/352.2628 ext. 136
     jglodoveza@bsmg.com