Novas' Debussy and Verdi Debug Systems Deployed by Sun Microsystems

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 7, 2003--Novas Software, Inc., the leader in debug systems for complex chip designs, today announced that Sun Microsystems, Inc. has extended their existing license for Novas' Debussy(R) Debug System. The Verdi(TM) Behavior-Based Debug System has also been included in the agreement.

Sun has been using Novas' Debussy Debug System for IC design since January 2001. Citing their positive experiences with Debussy, Sun engineers recently performed an evaluation of the advanced debug and design exploration capabilities of Novas' second-generation Verdi Behavior-Based Debug System, and consequently included this in the new agreement.

"Novas continues to innovate in the area of debug tools for complex designs," said Shrenik Mehta, director, Frontend Technologies-ASICs and Processors for Sun Microsystems. "We are pleased with the deployment of Novas' Debussy product across various designs at Sun and look forward to deploying the Verdi Behavior-Based Debug System."

"Like many in our industry, we regard Sun as a benchmark for success. Their continued investment in Novas products and the collaborative relationship between our engineering teams is a huge plus for both companies," said Scott Sandler, president and CEO at Novas. "Not only are we in a better position to understand and respond to Sun's needs, we have the opportunity to thoroughly exercise our debug technology platform and rapidly evolve Verdi's ability to help designers understand the intricacies of complex logic and speed the resolution of problems for the benefit of all Novas customers."

About Novas

Novas is the pioneer of debug systems that reduce the functional verification costs for complex IC designs. Building upon the strength of its market-leading Debussy(R) Debug System, Novas' Verdi(TM) Behavior-Based Debug System further improves the efficiency of designers in the system-on-chip era with advanced design exploration and debug capabilities. These allow design teams to better understand and analyze complex or unfamiliar design behavior, and cut by half or more the time it takes to locate, isolate and understand the root causes of design problems. Highlighted as one of the "Top 100 Products" for 2002 by EDN Magazine, Verdi also holds the honor as a finalist for the EDN 2002 Innovation Award.

There are more than 10,000 Novas systems in use today at customer sites worldwide. Novas is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. with offices in Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific. For more information visit http://www.novas.com or send email to info@novas.com.

Debussy is a registered trademark and Verdi is a trademark of Novas Software, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Public Relations for Novas
             Wired Island, Ltd.
             Laurie Stanley, 510/656-0999
             laurie@wiredislandpr.com
             or
             Novas Software, Inc., San Jose, Calif.
             Lorie Bowlby, 408/467-7871
             lorie@novas.com