Sequence Low-Power Design Portfolio Adopted by Samsung Electronics

Samsung Releases Sequence Power Tools Design Kits for Latest Process Technologies

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 2002--Sequence Design, Inc., the SoC Design Closure Company, today announced that Samsung Electronics has integrated the Sequence WattWatcher technology, the core technology in PowerTheater(TM) software, and the Sequence low-power design methodology into its application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design system.

Notes Dr. Jeong-Taek Kong, Samsung's vice president of CAE in the semiconductor R&D center: "Power is one of the most significant concerns in semiconductor design today. We need the most effective tools available to address this design issue. Sequence provides our customers with a structured low-power design methodology to manage power consumption in IC designs. We look forward to a close working relationship with Sequence to address the challenges of low-power design."

Samsung's endorsement and distribution of design kits for Sequence power products will make it possible for customers to meet their power requirements as early as possible in order to design low-power system-on-chip (SoC) products for networking, wireless, and other advanced applications.

Samsung design kits for their latest process technologies contain qualified Advanced Library Format (ALF) power libraries for use with Sequence power tools and are available immediately. The two companies have agreed to support common customers using the Sequence low-power design products and methodology as a standard component within Samsung's ASIC design flow, for register-transfer level (RTL) and gate-level power estimation and power reduction.

"We welcome the opportunity to work with Samsung in the area of low-power and low-voltage design," remarks Vic Kulkarni, chief operating officer for Sequence Design. "Customers like Samsung drove us to develop the NanoCool flow that we recently announced in order to address power issues throughout the design flow. Sequence values our relationship with Samsung and will continue to develop solutions that support Samsung's leadership in low-power design."

Samsung and Sequence have collaborated extensively to validate the accuracy and advantages of Sequence power tools within the Samsung design flow. ALF power libraries are available for Samsung's state-of-the-art silicon process technologies including the copper-based 0.13 micron and above.

Testing on Sequence's power technology produced RTL power analysis results that were comparable to transistor-level power analysis and silicon measurements in a fraction of the time. PowerTheater also demonstrated the capacity to handle multi-million gate, full-chip designs.

About PowerTheater and WattWatcher

PowerTheater, built with proven WattWatcher technology, is a comprehensive power management methodology that includes accurate RTL and gate-level full-chip power analysis and flexible power optimization software ideal for the SoC design process. PowerTheater already has momentum in the marketplace with users like Sun and Silicon Metrics, as well as having been integrated into IBM's Blue Logic(TM) ASIC design system. By providing accurate RTL power estimation, precise gate-level power verification, and flexible power optimization, PowerTheater helps designers minimize power early in the design cycle and verify that their power budget is met. The product's versatile graphical analysis environment lets designers assess trade-off options quickly and intuitively, along with full-chip analysis that covers all major contributors to power dissipation.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, and digital convergence technology. Samsung Electronics employs approximately 64,000 people in 89 offices in 47 countries.

Samsung Electronics is the world's largest producer of memory products, Smart Card Chips, Display Driver ICs, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. Samsung Electronics consists of four main business units: Digital Media Network, Device Solution Network, Telecommunication Network and Digital Appliance Network Businesses. For more information, please visit the web site, http://samsungelectronics.com.

About Sequence

Sequence Design, Inc., the SoC Design Closure Company(SM), enables system-on-chip designers to bring higher-performance and lower-power integrated circuits quickly to tape out. Sequence's physical design software and solutions give its more than 100 customers the competitive advantage they need to excel in aggressive technology markets, despite demanding complexity and time-to-market issues of sub-180 nanometer designs.

Sequence has worldwide development and field service operations. The company was formed through the merger of Sente, Inc., Sapphire Design Automation, Inc. and Frequency Technology. Sequence is privately held. Sequence is a member of Cadence Design Systems' Connections(TM)and Mentor Graphics' Open Door(TM)partnership programs. Additional information is available at sequencedesign.com.

All trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

     Public Relations for Sequence
     Jim Lochmiller, 541/552-0616
     lochpr@yahoo.com