Novas' Debussy Debug System Supports New Release of Synopsys' Vera Testbench Solution

Integration Enables Unified Debug of HDL Designs and OpenVera Testbenches

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2002--Novas Software, Inc., the leader in debug systems for complex integrated circuit designs, today announced a tight integration between its market-leading Debussy® knowledge-based debug system and the newest release of the VERA® testbench solution from Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS - news). The integration of Debussy and VERA, which is based on the OpenVera(TM) hardware verification language, significantly enhances designer productivity by providing a unified environment for debugging system-on-chip designs and their test suites.

The integration allows Debussy users to debug testbenches in the context of design source code, schematic and waveform views. This provides a much more interactive and efficient way for designers to visualize, analyze and act upon the results of their testbench verification efforts. The integration supports OpenVera testbenches for Verilog, VHDL and mixed-language designs.

"The ability to work with functional verification results at multiple levels and from a variety of perspectives is critical to quickly producing reliable and accurate designs. By combining the Debussy interactive debug and VERA testbench development environments, Novas and Synopsys users have a comprehensive view of their designs, and thus can reduce overall debug and testbench generation time," said Scott Sandler, president and CEO of Novas Software. "The fact that VERA is based on the OpenVera standard further extends the accessibility of the integrated Debussy-VERA solution and promotes the development of additional capabilities to improve designer productivity."

"The integration of Debussy and VERA, which is based on OpenVera, is a significant step forward for the verification community and for the advancement of OpenVera as an open standard for all functional verification needs," said Farhad Hayat, vice president of marketing for the Verification Technology Group at Synopsys, Inc. "The efficiencies designers can realize by leveraging the capabilities of our two companies is exactly the aim of OpenVera and a testament to the strength of an open source model."

Sandler added, "The complexity of system-on-chip design, particularly when third-party components are involved, requires seamless interoperability during design and testbench debug across block, chip and system hierarchies. Today's announcement is the first of several milestones on the Novas roadmap for delivering integrated design and testbench exploration and debugging for SoC design.

About Debussy

Novas' Debussy provides an efficient and user-friendly environment that reduces the time it takes to find the causes of design problems and to figure out how complex designs work. The system offers a variety of tools for visualizing and analyzing designs at different levels of abstraction. Users consistently report that the Debussy system cuts their debug time in half. Debussy supports standard chip design and verification flows through industry alliances with more than 25 leading providers of commercial logic simulators, formal verification software, and hardware emulators.

About OpenVera

OpenVera is an open source hardware verification language developed specifically to meet the unique requirements of functional verification. The language enables users to describe the target application environment, including complex protocols and data objects, at a high level of abstraction, which dramatically increases productivity, readability and reusability. The latest OpenVera developments will be featured at the ninth semiannual Synopsys EDA Interoperability Developers' Forum in Sunnyvale, CA on Tuesday, April 16, 2002. For more information on OpenVera, visit www.open-vera.com.

About Novas

Novas is the pioneer of independent debug systems for complex chip designs. The Company's Debussy® knowledge-based system cuts the cost of verification by dramatically reducing the time it takes to locate, isolate, and understand the causes of unexpected design behavior. Debussy increases designer and design team productivity during the time-intensive verification and debug phases. Novas has over 7,000 systems in use at hundreds of customer sites worldwide. For more information visit, www.novas.com or send email to info@novas.com. Novas is located at: 2025 Gateway Place, Suite 480, San Jose, Calif. 95110. Phone: 408-467-7888. Fax: 408-467-7889, 1-888-NOVAS-38.

Novas Software and Debussy are registered trademarks of Novas Software, Inc. VERA is a trademark of Synopsys, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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