Axis Systems' Xtreme Verification System Selected by Coolsand to Speed Development of Chips for Portable Multimedia Devices
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002--
Axis Systems, Inc. today announced that Coolsand Technologies Inc.
(Paris, France) has purchased the Xtreme(TM) verification system and
is using it early in the design flow to verify the architecture of a
system-on-a-chip (SoC) for the portable multimedia consumer
electronics market.
Dimitri Singer, vice president of engineering for Coolsand
Technologies, said that after evaluating the offerings in the
verification market, they selected Axis because Xtreme was not only
easy to bring up and use, but also it could be used early in the
design flow to accelerate both register-transfer level (RTL) and
behavioral code.
Coolsand's multimedia chip is a complex, highly integrated
System-on-Chip. The main reason Coolsand needed Xtreme so early in the
flow was to run the millions of simulation cycles needed to verify the
performance and interoperability of computation-intensive multimedia
functions mapped in hardware.
"The main advantage to Xtreme is being able to verify early-on the
architecture of our chips," Singer added. "We had to make sure that we
made the correct choices. We tested each module, running real C code
on the system. If we had to modify the architecture slightly, it was
early enough that we didn't impact our schedule. Without Xtreme, we
would have had to go all the way to the gate level netlist, and if we
then had to change the architecture, it would have made a huge
negative impact on our schedule."
"Coolsand needed early proof that their assumptions were correct,"
said Steve Wang, vice president of marketing at Axis. "Assumptions
alone were not enough. We're pleased that the combination of Xtreme
with a language-neutral platform and our Behavioral Processor helped
increase the productivity of Coolsand's design team. Time-to-market is
critical in the highly competitive consumer multimedia market."
Axis introduced the first and only language-neutral verification
platform in March 2002. The newest versions of Axis' Xcite(TM) and
Xtreme verification systems support both VHDL and Verilog with no
restrictions between language boundaries. During simulation,
acceleration, and emulation, customers now can arbitrarily mix both
languages in the same design, and debug any signal within that design
-- whether it's a VHDL or Verilog signal.
Behavioral Processor is the first verification technology on the
market that enables chip designers to accelerate and emulate
non-synthesizable behavioral constructs in the code used to build a
chip.
About Coolsand
Coolsand Technologies, founded in April 2002, is a privately owned
fabless semiconductor company designing chips for the portable
multimedia consumer electronics market. Coolsand's vision is to
develop low-cost integrated circuits to bring quality portable
multimedia devices within the reach of mass consumers to support
education, provide entertainment, and enhance productivity.
About Axis Systems
Axis Systems, Inc. offers high-performance verification systems
for the hardware and software development of complex electronic system
and system-on-a-chip designs. Axis' products help increase confidence
in new designs, improve overall verification productivity and shorten
time to market. On a single system and with one design database, Axis'
patented ReConfigurable Computing (RCC) technology provides software
simulation, accelerated simulation, system emulation and
hardware/software co-verification. Customers include the world's
leading graphics, networking, multimedia, and processor companies.
Axis is headquartered at 209 Java Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. To learn
more about Axis, visit www.axiscorp.com.
Contact:
Axis Systems
Steve Wang, 408/716-1511
wang@axiscorp.com
or
Cayenne Communication
Lois DuBois, 650/726-7393
Mobile: 415/699-1538
lois.dubois@cayennecom.com
Source:
Axis Systems, Inc.
