Synchronicity Adds Direct Vault-to-Vault Server Connection Between Their IP Gear Publisher Suites, also Links to Their New Consumer Suite

Innovative Technology Minimizes Design Chain Latency

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2002-- Synchronicity Inc. today announced a new direct Vault-to-Vault server connection technology to optimize customers' semiconductor design chains. Vault-to-Vault is available now as an upgrade to Synchronicity's widely used IP Gear Publisher Suite and also connects to their recently launched Consumer Suite.

The new Vault-to-Vault technology supports automatic, full or incremental transfer of design information between two Publisher Suites or between a Publisher and a Consumer Suite. The technology treats semiconductor intellectual property (IP) as an entity consisting of the version-controlled data (IP, libraries and design kits) and meta-data (information about that data which makes it useful: documentation, use models, configuration, parameters, known issues and resolutions). Vault-To-Vault technology is built on industry standards such as XML and HTTPS and supports automatic replication and master slave synchronization over the Internet.

Leading semiconductor developers such as Conexant, PMC, Philips, Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Sharp have built division or company-wide design reuse and/or support systems with the IP Gear Publisher Suite. To match their business structure and boost performance, several of these customers use multiple Publisher Suites, one in each large division. For those who add it, the Vault-to-Vault technology can now keep common contents, like widely applicable reusable design blocks, consistently and automatically updated across all the servers.

Semiconductor IP suppliers, like ARM and inSilicon, purchased the IP Gear Publisher Suite to manage, distribute and/or support their IP. Now these or other IP Suppliers will be able to add Vault-to-Vault as an always-on, direct connection to their customers. Publishers can eliminate the manual steps of packaging deliverables and also benefit from the ability to provide automatic alerts and other higher-level messaging and branding. Product updates get directly transferred into customer's vaults. Vault-to-Vault can connect an IP supplier to any customer who already has a Publisher Suite or who acquires the new Consumer Suite, and these customers will benefit from having fast access to a local server for the latest IP and its support.

The new Consumer Suite offers smaller customers, not yet ready to install a full IP reuse system, a more affordable means to be directly connected to their IP suppliers. It is a server on the customer site where externally supplied IP is automatically delivered and efficiently managed. The Consumer Suite automatically retrieves all entitled IP, libraries, design kits, supporting documentation and other meta-data. The supplier may be a different business unit within the company, a commercial IP or library vendor, or partner company.

The Consumer Suite features an integrated vault, catalog and optional Helpdesk support system. The integrated Helpdesk includes a Knowledge Base and an option for issue escalation back to the IP publisher. Overall the Consumer Suite provides designers a consistent mechanism to receive the latest IP from publishers with easy central management and support.

Synchronicity's other main product line, the Developer Suites, is widely used for design collaboration and management, and engineering productivity benefits from all the solutions functioning well together. Recently Synchronicity announced the SoC Developer Suite with the very powerful Hierarchical Configuration Manager (HCM), for those developing large System-on-Chips. With Vault-to-Vault, the SoC Developer Suite enjoys a functionality and performance boost. Now in addition to enabling design blocks to reference work-in-progress and locally reusable IP, the HCM can also enable design blocks to reference IP from outside the company -but still with fast local access and support.

Pricing and Availability

The Vault-To-Vault option for the IP Gear Publisher Suite is available now for workgroups to extended enterprise applications from $25,000 to $100,000 depending on the configuration.

The Synchronicity Consumer Suite with Vault-To-Vault receiving is available now with solutions that span from workgroups to extended enterprise organizations. Prices also range from $25,000 to $100,000 per server.

About Synchronicity

Synchronicity accelerates innovation with design collaboration software. Eight of the top-ten semiconductor companies use Synchronicity to connect their design chain; at the team, enterprise and/or market levels. Our solutions enable IC, embedded software and system developers to move from concept to product to revenue more quickly by implementing best practices, managing design content, capturing design intent, tracking project status and facilitating design reuse. Headquartered in Marlboro, MA, (508) 485-4122, Synchronicity has offices worldwide. For more information visit www.synchronicity.com.

Note to Editors: Synchronicity is a registered trademark and IP Gear a trademark of Synchronicity, Inc. of Marlboro, MA. All other trademarks are acknowledged as property of their owners.

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