Mentor Graphics Teams with Thales and Xilinx to Develop FPGA Formal Verification Solution

WILSONVILLE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2003--Mentor Graphics Corp. (Nasdaq:MENT) today announced a technology collaboration with Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq:XLNX) and Thales Communications to develop a new FPGA verification flow to meet Thales' requirements for its next-generation products.

With this collaboration, Xilinx will extend its existing EDA partner alliance agreement with Mentor Graphics(R), to include the FormalPro(TM) equivalence checking technology, along with ModelSim(R) HDL simulation, and Precision Synthesis(TM). This collaboration will provide an integrated FPGA methodology Thales requires to enable the development of its next-generation state-of-the-art military and aviation electronics.

"We evaluated several FPGA tools then selected the Mentor Graphics tool suite because of their integrated FPGA design methodology," said Bernard Candaele, ASIC and EDA department manager at Thales Communications. "For equivalency checking, FormalPro delivers the most comprehensive formal verification technology needed for our next generation products. We currently use FormalPro for SoC designs and would like to extend its use into FPGAs. We conducted a very thorough evaluation of FormalPro targeting Xilinx libraries and are very satisfied with the results. The Mentor Graphics bundled solution with Xilinx libraries will provide the technology we need to succeed in our aggressive product development plans."

"Xilinx has a long-standing relationship with Mentor Graphics and Thales," said Bruno Leduc, Xilinx southern Europe general manager. "Xilinx is committed to help Thales and Mentor Graphics integrate the FPGA design flow and verification tools with our libraries to enable Thales' next-generation technology."

"We are pleased to be working with industry leaders Thales and Xilinx to further integrate FormalPro into a complete FPGA methodology," stated Reily Jacoby, FormalPro division manager. "We look forward to our continued collaboration which will enable our customers to achieve design verification success with greater reliability and confidence."

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $600 million and employs approximately 3,500 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Mentor Graphics and ModelSim are registered trademarks and FormalPro and Precision Synthesis are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Mentor Graphics  
             Larry Toda, 503/685-1664                               
             larry_toda@mentor.com
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             Suzanne Graham, 503/685-7789              
             suzanne_graham@mentor.com