OpenAccess Enables New Cadence Virtuoso Chip Editor to Speed Chip Finishing Up to 10X or More
Industry Standard Database Provides Direct Link Between Digital
and Custom Environments
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2003--
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN), today announced the
release of the Cadence(R) Virtuoso (R)Chip Editor chip finisher, which
uses the OpenAccess application programming interface (API) and
database to directly link the Cadence Encounter(TM) digital platform
with the Cadence custom environment. With OpenAccess, Virtuoso Chip
Editor provides customers with up to 10 times the performance and up
to 3 times the capacity for digital and mixed-signal designs.
Chip finishing is the final stage of design implementation.
Historically, it has required the painfully slow exchange of
multi-gigabyte data files (for example, DEF or GDSII formats) between
digital and custom environments. SoC Encounter(TM) and Virtuoso Chip
Editor use the highly efficient OpenAccess database to eliminate this
file-transfer bottleneck. Chip finishing flows between SoC Encounter
and Virtuoso Chip Editor can now be completed in a matter of minutes
as compared to several hours -- a significant productivity boost
benefiting customers and their silicon partners. Customers have
evaluated Virtuoso Chip Editor and are now incorporating it into their
production design flows.
"We've evaluated Cadence's new Virtuoso Chip Editor on the
OpenAccess database at Agere," said Kathy Krisch, director of Modeling
and Design Kits at Agere Systems. "We were able to load and edit our
designs in a fraction of the time it previously took. As a result of
this evaluation, we plan to deploy design libraries and PDKs (process
design kits) for OpenAccess so that we can use Virtuoso Chip Editor as
our Cadence chip finishing solution. The improved performance of
Virtuoso Chip Editor will allow us to optimize the critical final
stage of our design flow, allowing us to get our products to market
more quickly."
"Virtuoso Chip Editor and SoC Encounter leverage OpenAccess to set
a new standard for chip finishing," said Yaakov Milstain, corporate
vice president and general manager of Custom IC at Cadence. "Our
investments in using OpenAccess technology as the infrastructure for
our design and implementation platforms are now paying off for our
customers. And, since Virtuoso Chip Editor is part of the Virtuoso
family, our customers' investment in DFII and SKILL is preserved."
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 5,200 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 are
available at www.cadence.com.
Cadence, the Cadence logo and Virtuoso are registered trademarks
and SoC Encounter and Encounter are trademarks of Cadence Design
Systems, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Judy Erkanat, 408/894-2302
jerkanat@cadence.com
