Silicon Access Networks Selects Axis Systems' Xtreme To Verify Next-Generation Network Processors
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - August 7, 2002 - Axis Systems Inc. today announced that Silicon Access Networks, Inc., an industry leader in IC data path processing solutions, used Axis Systems' Xtreme™ verification system to expedite the development of its iPP Packet Processor, a 20-gigabit packet processor with more than seven million gates and 18 million bits of memory. The chip is the flagship of Silicon Access' iFlow™ family of products, and is more than twice the speed of any processor on the market today.
"When we began this project, we knew we had very tight time-to-market requirements," said Rex Naden, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Silicon Access. "Our biggest challenge was to exercise the device with several billions of packets to verify all possible combinations. After evaluating several systems, we found that Axis' Xtreme was the only one whose performance and capabilities could handle this design."
During the design process, Silicon Access used Xtreme for simulation, simulation acceleration, and in-circuit emulation. During all three verification modes, Xtreme handled all levels of modeling abstractions: gate, register-transfer, and behavioral Verilog; C models; and Verisity Specman models.
To verify the chip's functionality, the Silicon Access design team connected Xtreme to a PC running Linux, via Axis' PCI Xchange product. They ran millions of simulation cycles through Xtreme, which would have been impossible with a software simulator running on a workstation due to its small capacity and lack of speed. Xtreme runs more than 1000 times faster that the fastest software simulator.
After tapeout and before the chip was manufactured, Silicon Access continued to use Xtreme to bring up and verify all the tests they would need to evaluate the actual chip. Because they were able to emulate the chip in Xtreme, all the tests were verified and ready to run as soon as the chip came back from the fab.
"We were able to verify fully working samples of the chip less than four weeks after we got the chip back from the fab. Everything worked according to the design, and no respins are planned," added Naden. "A big plus for us during the entire process was the responsiveness and commitment of the Axis team. We had good open channels of communication at all levels of the company."
"We're thrilled to be a partner in Silicon Access' success as they set the standard in network processing," said Mike Tsai, Axis Systems' president and CEO "The whole purpose of Xtreme is to help our customers design next-generation chips and meet their market windows."
About Silicon Access Networks, Inc.
Silicon Access Networks, a communications semiconductor company, offers the only complete Data Path Processing Platform (DP3) solution for wide area, metropolitan and enterprise switching and routing applications. The iFlow DP3 solution delivers a quantum leap in performance and density over competing solutions. The company, which has more than 200 employees, is home to more than 190 engineers, hailing from the world's leading networking, microprocessor and silicon manufacturing companies. Founded in 1997, Silicon Access Networks is headquartered in San Jose, California, with R&D facilities located in Ottawa, Ontario and Raleigh, North Carolina. The company is a member of the Network Processing Forum (NPF), the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and the ATM Forum. For more information, visit www.siliconaccess.com.
About Axis Systems
Axis Systems, Inc. offers high-performance verification platforms for the hardware and software development of complex electronic system and system-on-chip designs. Axis' products help customers increase confidence in new designs, improve overall verification productivity and shorten time to market. On a single system and with a unified design database, patented RCC technology provides software simulation, accelerated simulation, system emulation and hardware/software co-verification. Customers include the world's leading networking and multimedia companies. Axis is headquartered at 209 Java Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. To learn more about Axis, visit www.axiscorp.com
Contacts:
Axis Systems -Yukari Chin, (408) 716-1520, yukari@axiscorp.com
Silicon Access Networks - Jason Enamait, (408) 545-1100, jason.enamait@siliconaccess.com
Cayenne Communication - Lois DuBois, (650) 854-5485, lois.dubois@cayennecom.com
