Cadence and Credence Create Technology Alliance to Enable Open Design-to-Production Test Solutions

SAN JOSE, Calif. and FREMONT, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CDN - news), the world's leading supplier of electronic design products and services, and Credence Systems Corporation (Nasdaq: CMOS - news), a leading provider of test solutions from design-to-production for the worldwide semiconductor industry, today announced the creation of a comprehensive technology alliance. The purpose of this alliance is to create unique design-to-production test solutions based on an open architecture that will enable customers to manage their test-methods portfolio across the supply chain, dramatically accelerating overall time-to-market and reducing total cost-of-test.

As the complexity of system-on-chip (SoC) and other advanced integrated circuits (ICs) have drastically increased, the total cost-of-test has risen correspondingly. As much as 75 percent of the total test costs, including test program development, simulation, characterization, debug and training, is now in non-capital equipment costs. Credence and Cadence plan to enable major improvements in the design-to-production test flow for tomorrow's most advanced semiconductor devices by integrating test requirements into the design process and providing open, industry-standard solutions to migrate those test parameters into the engineering validation and production test environments.

Initially, the companies will integrate industry-leading software solutions to offer a test validation environment for the IC design-for-test (DFT) engineer through the Cadence sales channel. Verification design tools (NC-Sim) from Cadence when combined with test automation and debug tools (Digital Virtual Test/Test Development Series) from Credence's subsidiary, Integrated Measurement Systems, Inc. (IMS), will create a streamlined design-to-production test flow, encompassing design implementation, test validation/debug, cyclization, and test program development. Under the agreement, both Cadence and IMS will dedicate engineering resources to provide support to the alliance.

"Integrating test requirements into the design process is part of the Cadence long-term vision to create the next-generation design infrastructure that is built upon open standards and comprised of the latest technologies," said Rahul Razdan, corporate vice president and general manager of Cadence Systems and Functional Verification Group. "Our customers are under enormous pressure to bring products to market quickly with the lowest possible cost, and we believe that improving the design-to-production test flow is one of the most optimal ways to meet their needs. We believe our alliance with Credence will yield dramatic changes in the way design engineers view test and the way test engineers view design."

"Credence and IMS are driven by the need to provide our customers with the smoothest possible design-to-production test flow, while ensuring lower overall test costs," said Keith Barnes, president of IMS and executive vice president of Credence. "Our alliance with Cadence will address this through the provision of DFT techniques that closely connect the worlds of electronic design automation (EDA) and test. New software solutions are currently being developed, which will enable the semiconductor industry to realize the economies and efficiencies of integrating test requirements into the design process."

This alliance will enable the development of additional solutions that use open standards, allowing customers, EDA companies and ATE suppliers to integrate their design and test requirements into the Credence/Cadence design-to-production test flow.

About Cadence

Cadence is the largest supplier of electronic design automation products, methodology services, and design services. Cadence solutions are used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and a variety of other electronics-based products. With approximately 5,600 employees and 2001 revenues of approximately $1.4 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDN. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.com.

About Credence

Credence Systems Corporation is changing the future of semiconductor production by integrating test solutions throughout the design, validation and production processes. A leader in the manufacture of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the global semiconductor industry, Credence and its subsidiaries also provide design and test validation solutions that enable faster time-to-market with lower total cost-of-test. Headquartered in Fremont, California, the company is an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and maintains advanced production and design facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon. More information is available at http://www.credence.com .

About Integrated Measurement Systems (IMS)--A Credence Company

IMS designs, manufactures, markets and services a family of versatile, high-performance engineering validation test systems used to verify and characterize complex digital, mixed signal, and memory devices. In addition, the company is also a leading provider of design and test automation software, providing an integrated development environment between electronic design automation (EDA) and automated test equipment (ATE) suppliers. A wholly owned subsidiary of Credence Systems Corporation, IMS is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, with sales offices throughout the world. In 2001, IMS was ranked number one in pure test for the eighth consecutive year in the VLSI Research Inc. Annual 10 BEST Customer Satisfaction Survey of Test and Material Handling Suppliers. For additional information, please visit www.ims.com.

NOTE: Credence is a registered trademark, and Credence Systems, Integrated Measurement Systems, and IMS are trademarks of Credence Systems Corporation and its subsidiaries. Cadence and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. Other trademarks that may be mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.