Synplicity's Synplify ASIC Software Enables Successful SoC Design for Canon

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2002--Synplicity, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYNP - News)

   Synplicity's Productivity-Focused ASIC Synthesis Product Improves
     Performance and Area Results for Image Processing ASIC; Visit
  Synplicity in Booth #3142 at the Design Automation Conference, New
                          Orleans, June 10-13

Synplicity, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYNP - News), a leading supplier of software for the design and verification of semiconductors, today announced Canon Inc. has used the Synplify ASIC® synthesis software to tape out a complex system-on-chip (SoC) design. Canon has received confirmation of tape out success from its ASIC partner, Fujitsu Limited, for a two-million-gate, 0.18 micron image processing design. Using the high-productivity Synplify ASIC software, Canon was able to quickly achieve better timing and area results without extensive RTL re-coding, resulting in reduced power consumption, cost and turnaround time.

"For years we had few choices in logic synthesis tools. In June 2001 we started evaluating the Synplify ASIC software and immediately obtained remarkable results," said Makoto Shimokoriyama, assistant general manager, Image Communication Technology Development Div., Research and Development Center and Product Operations, Canon Inc. "Traditionally, incorporating a new synthesis tool into an existing flow requires a large commitment of resources, however early in the adoption phase we easily added the Synplify ASIC solution into our existing tool chain. The software allowed us to achieve phenomenal results for design projects where many issues had been unsolved by other synthesis products. The Synplify ASIC software enabled us to achieve all of our challenging goals for timing, area and power ahead of schedule and without changes to the RTL code."

Canon's design team worked with Synplicity K.K., Synplicity's local customer support team in Japan, and Fujitsu to easily integrate the synthesis software into its existing design flow. Shimokoriyama added, "We are pleased to have established the technical cooperation in which Fujitsu and Synplicity contribute to Canon's success. We are looking forward to keeping this relationship to launch market-winning products."

"We are very happy Canon was successful in obtaining higher performance from its image processing ASIC," said Yoji Hino, vice general manager, ASIC & System LSI Technology Div., Fujitsu Limited. "We found that the netlist generated by the Synplify ASIC software passed cleanly through our layout flow. We support the Synplify ASIC software's libraries and believe the software will provide our customers with a solution for meeting their design requirements. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Synplicity."

Andy Haines, vice president of marketing at Synplicity, said, "We are committed to the success of our customers and believe Canon's tape out with Fujitsu validates our productivity-focused approach to ASIC synthesis. By integrating the Synplify ASIC software into a design flow, we believe designers can obtain the high quality of results they require, with the speed and ease of use traditionally associated with Synplicity's solutions."

About the Synplify ASIC Software

Introduced in June 2001, Synplicity's Synplify ASIC software is the industry's first ASIC synthesis product optimized to improve productivity for the majority of ASIC designers. The software leverages the company's proven synthesis technology, delivers high quality of results and features order of magnitude runtime improvements -- up to 15 times faster than traditional synthesis products. The Synplify ASIC software offers a scalable and flexible methodology for high-complexity ASIC design -- the MultiPoint(TM) synthesis design methodology -- enabling designers to perform complete design optimization with fast runtimes and high quality of results. The Synplify ASIC software is supported by leading ASIC vendors including: AMI Semiconductor, Chip Express, Faraday, Fujitsu, IBM Microelectronics, Lightspeed Semiconductor and Oki Semiconductor.

Pricing and Availability

The Synplify ASIC software is available now. A perpetual license of the Synplify ASIC software lists for $115,000 (U.S.), and a one-year time-based license lists for $69,000 (U.S.).

Customers interested in evaluating the software can do so with Synplicity's "Express Evaluation" toolkit, which enables a designer to complete a four-step evaluation of the software, including installation and training, within a day. The toolkit provides all of the basic information needed to conduct a hands-on evaluation of the Synplify ASIC software including an evaluation copy of the software, a design tutorial, a test case design and all of the necessary design libraries. The kit is available by contacting your local Synplicity® sales office.

About Synplicity

Synplicity, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYNP - News) is a leading provider of software products that enable the rapid and effective design and verification of semiconductors used in networking and communications, computer and peripheral, consumer and military/aerospace electronics systems. Recognizing the company's industry-leading position, Dataquest named Synplicity as the #1 provider of PLD synthesis tools in 2000 with a 45 percent market share. Synplicity leverages its innovative logic synthesis, physical synthesis and verification software solutions to improve performance and shorten development time for complex programmable logic devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and system-on-chip (SoC) integrated circuits. The company's fast, easy-to-use products offer high quality of results, support industry-standard design languages (VHDL and Verilog) and run on popular platforms. As of March 31, 2002, Synplicity employed 269 people in its 20 facilities worldwide. Synplicity is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information on Synplicity, visit http://www.synplicity.com.

Synplicity and Synplify ASIC are registered trademarks of Synplicity, Inc. MultiPoint is a trademark of Synplicity, Inc. All other brands or products are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

     Porter Novelli
     Steve Gabriel, 408/369-1500
     steve.gabriel@porternovelli.com
        or
     Synplicity, Inc.
     John Gallagher, 408/215-6000
     johng@synplicity.com