Mentor Graphics Delivers New Device Support and Advanced Features with its LeonardoSpectrum Synthesis Solution

WILSONVILLE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2002--Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT - news), the leader in programmable logic solutions, today announced a newly enhanced version of the LeonardoSpectrum(TM) synthesis tool, LeonardoSpectrum 2002a (LS 2002a).

The installed base of over 30,000 LeonardoSpectrum designers will benefit from enhanced operating system support, synthesis quality of results, device support and optimization features for Altera Corp. (Nasdaq: ALTR - news), Actel (Nasdaq: ACTL - news), Lattice (Nasdaq: LSCC), QuickLogic (Nasdaq: QUIK - news), and Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX - news) devices. The LS2002a enhancements enable designers to take full advantage of the newest and fastest field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) available, resulting in faster, lower cost end products.

"Mentor Graphics is dedicated to providing leading edge synthesis technology and continues to provide new enhancements and device support to the LeonardoSpectrum synthesis tool," said Simon Bloch, general manager of the Mentor Graphics® FPGA Synthesis business unit. "With LeonardoSpectrum 2002a and the recently announced Precision(TM) Synthesis tool, Mentor Graphics now offers the broadest set of synthesis solutions for simple FPGAs and CPLDs to ultra high-end field programmable system-on-chip (FPSoC) devices."

Altera Stratix and LogicLock Support

LS 2002a provides complete support for the new Altera® Stratix(TM) family of devices including enhancements to support Altera's LogicLock(TM) block-based design. Designers using LS 2002a can assign a LogicLock attribute to one or more modules from within the synthesis environment. The LogicLock attributes are then automatically passed to the Quartus® II design software for efficient placement within the assigned region of the chip. The LeonardoSpectrum LogicLock flow also allows for a team-based design methodology where each module in a design is implemented independently.

Virtex-II Pro Support

Mentor Graphics has worked closely with Xilinx to ensure optimal support for the newly launched Xilinx® Virtex-II Pro(TM) and Spartan-IIE family of devices. Mentor's new device support includes algorithms uniquely designed to take full advantage of the resources found on the Virtex-II Pro devices, including support for the Xilinx built-in multipliers, shift register LUT (SRL) and RAM features.

Enhanced Vendor Device Support

LS 2002a also expands existing support for vendors with enhanced support for available FPGA devices, including the Actel ProASICPlus and Lattice MACH 4a device families and the QuickLogic Eclipse, QuickDSP, QuickPCI and QuickRAM devices.

Enhanced Operating System Support

LS 2002a has expanded its existing operating support to now include the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, enabling users to take advantage of the latest high-speed personal computers available on the market.

Pricing and Availability

LS 2002a is available immediately. U.S. list price for LS 2002a starts at $4,500 for single vendor versions. Supported platforms include Windows XP, NT, 98 and 2000, Solaris and HP-UX platforms. LS 2002a can also be found in the Mentor Graphics FPGA Advantage design flow. For more information, please call (800)-632-3742 or visit www.mentor.com/synthesis.

About Mentor Graphics Corporation

Mentor Graphics Corporation 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 3,100 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 registered trademarks and LeonardoSpectrum and Precision are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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     Keri Wilson, 503/685-1359
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     Jason Khoury, 415/354-8391
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