Cadence Optimizes Design Chain for Xilinx Customers Using the 90nm Spartan-3 FPGA Platform

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2003--Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN)

Cadence Design Solutions Help Drive Development of Spartan-3

Platform from Design to Design-in

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN) today announced the next step in its alliance with Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq:XLNX) with complete support for the new Spartan-3 platform FPGAs, which were announced April 14, 2003. The Cadence(R) Incisive(TM) verification platform and chip-package-board solutions optimize the design chain link between Xilinx and its customers by enabling the rapid design, verification, and PCB implementation of the Spartan-3 platform. In addition, Cadence solutions were used throughout the Xilinx design process to deliver the industry's first 90nm FPGA.

"Utilizing the Incisive verification platform and advanced silicon design technologies from Cadence, we were able to develop our new 90nm Spartan-3 platform FPGAs," said Rich Burnley, director of IC Design and CAD at Xilinx. "The tools and support from Cadence helped us deliver the first 90nm product in the programmable logic industry."

"We continue to strengthen our alliance with Xilinx by providing solutions that speed their time to market for high-density devices like the Spartan-3, and by shortening their customer's design-in time, which improves time-to-volume for both companies," said Rahul Razdan, corporate vice president and general manager, Systems Verification group at Cadence. "Our Incisive platform provides complete support for the Spartan-3 platform and clearly addresses the verification requirements for this new class of FPGAs. For the first time, customers will be able to verify complex FPGAs with a unified verification methodology, improving speed and efficiency."

According to Dave Wurthmann, director of Systems Verification at Xelic, Inc., "Creating a complex reusable testbench and doing streamlined, thorough verification is critical for getting products out on time. The combination of Xilinx FPGAs and Cadence technologies allows us to deliver an effective solution that meets the tight market window of our networking customers. With this advanced FPGA verification flow we can design-in an FPGA, and then an ASIC -- without changing tools."

Cadence Industry-Leading Platform Solutions

Functionally verifying nanometer-scale ICs requires optimal speed and efficiency. The Cadence Incisive verification platform is the world's first single-kernel verification platform that supports a unified methodology from system design to system design-in for all design domains. It delivers 100x full-chip performance throughout the entire design cycle and can compress total verification time by up to 50 percent.

Today's complex, high-speed systems are being designed with Cadence design solutions that consider the chip, the package and the printed circuit board (PCB). Cadence's solutions help semiconductor companies like Xilinx optimize the design chain link to their customers by providing tools and services that minimize system design-in time and shorten both companies' time-to-volume.

Spartan-3 Platform FPGAs

Ranging from 50K to 5M system gates, the 90nm Spartan-3 platform is the world's lowest cost FPGA with unrivaled price points to address customer demand for low cost solutions. With Spartan-3, Xilinx is poised to address entirely new high volume applications in the "sweet spot" of mid-range ASICs -- such as low cost routers, storage servers, medical and industrial imaging, and residential gateways -- to significantly expand the total available market for the Spartan Series. For complete information about Spartan-3 FPGAs, visit http://www.xilinx.com/spartan3.

About Cadence

Cadence is the largest supplier of electronic design technologies, methodology services, and design services. Cadence solutions are used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and a variety of other electronics-based products. With approximately 5,300 employees and 2002 revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDN. More information about the company, its products and services is available at www.cadence.com.

Cadence and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks and Incisive is a trademark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective holders.

CONTACT: Cadence Design Systems
             Meg Kenagy, 503/968-4842
             mkenagy@cadence.com
             Sarah Miller, 978/262-6221
             sarahm@cadence.com