Synopsys And Artisan Announce Collaboration To Validate Interoperable PCI Express Solution
Intel Developer Forum 2003
Two Industry-Leading IP Providers Work Together to Accelerate
Adoption of the New High-Speed PCI Express Architecture
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2003--
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS), the world leader in semiconductor
design software, and Artisan Components(R), Inc., (Nasdaq:ARTI), a
leading provider of physical intellectual property (IP), today
announced a collaboration to develop a hardware platform that
validates the interoperability of their PCI Express(TM) IP solutions.
The platform conforms to the PIPE (PHY Interface for PCI Express)
standard and helps to assure seamless operation and lower-risk
implementation for chip developers. Synopsys and Artisan plan to
develop a mother/daughterboard platform utilizing Synopsys'
DesignWare(R) PCI Express Endpoint Controller Core and Artisan's PCI
Express PHY IP. Synopsys and Artisan plan to present the solution at
the PCI Express Interoperability Workshop in the fourth quarter of
2003.
"High-speed serial interface PHYs are complex circuits that must
be verified both in silicon and in a system context," states Callan
Carpenter, vice president and general manager, Artisan Analog/Mixed
Signal Business Unit. "By working together to rigorously establish
interoperability between our respective IP, Artisan and Synopsys are
helping to reduce the integration risk that confronts every
system-on-chip design."
"As the market leader in connectivity IP, Synopsys works with
leading PHY suppliers like Artisan to validate interoperability," said
Guri Stark, vice president of marketing, Synopsys SolutionsGroup.
"This reduces the risk for designers and gives them the confidence to
use our joint solutions in their designs, enabling them to bring
products to market more quickly."
The platform demonstration will consist of two boards: a
Synopsys-developed motherboard including FPGAs to house the Synopsys
Endpoint Controller with driver software, and a daughterboard
consisting of Artisan's PHY silicon. The interface between the two
boards will adhere to industry-standard PIPE specifications. Synopsys'
motherboard will include three critical protocol layers -- the logical
PHY layer, the data link layer and the transaction layer. Artisan's
daughterboard will include a complete serial link including mux/demux,
8b/10b encode/decode, elastic buffer and clock recovery circuitry that
will be compliant with the PCI Express Base 1.0a Specification.
Testability features for the Artisan daughterboard include built-in
self-test (BIST), serial and parallel loopbacks, IDDQ (power down) and
pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS).
The Synopsys DesignWare PCI Express Endpoint Controller Core
features configurability from one to eight channels, low gate count,
and timing closure to a 0.18-micron generic process. This architecture
not only supports all of the features required for a PCI Express
Endpoint solution, but it is also optimized for layout and performance
and implements "enhanced" transaction layer features.
Artisan's PCI Express 2.5Gb/s PHY core provides high performance,
flexibility, low power consumption, and extensive testability within a
small physical size. The PCI Express is a modular design that allows
for one to 32-lane configurations to enable a broad range of computing
and communication applications, emphasizing performance, cost and
scalability.
About Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is the world leader in electronic
design automation (EDA) software for semiconductor design. The company
delivers technology-leading semiconductor design and verification
platforms to the global electronics market, enabling the development
of complex systems-on-chips (SoCs). Synopsys also provides
intellectual property and design services to simplify the design
process and accelerate time-to-market for its customers. Synopsys is
headquartered in Mountain View, California and has offices in more
than 60 locations throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Asia.
Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.
About Artisan Components
Artisan Components, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARTI) is a leading provider of
physical intellectual property (IP) components for the design and
manufacture of complex system-on-a-chip integrated circuits. Artisan's
products include embedded memory, standard cell, input/output, analog
and mixed-signal components, which are designed to achieve the best
combination of performance, density, power and yield for a given
manufacturing process. Artisan has licensed its IP components to over
1,000 companies involved in integrated circuit design. Artisan is
headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. More information about Artisan
Components, including free library access, can be found at
www.artisan.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding the expected
features of the jointly developed PCI Express platform and the
expected date of demonstration of the solution. These statements are
based on Synopsys' and Artisan's current expectations and beliefs.
Actual results could differ materially from the results implied by
these statements as a result of unforeseen difficulties in integrating
products of the two companies and uncertainties attendant to any
technology collaboration, as well other factors contained in Synopsys'
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31,
2003 and Artisan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal
quarter ended June 30, 2003, each of which has been filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Synopsys and Artisan disclaim any
obligation to update or correct the information contained in this
press release as a result of financial, business or any other
developments occurring after the date of the release.
Information in this press release regarding Synopsys has been
provided by Synopsys and information contained in this press release
regarding Artisan has been provided by Artisan. Synopsys and
DesignWare are registered trademarks of Synopsys, Inc. Artisan and
Artisan Components are registered trademarks of Artisan Components,
Inc. PCI Express is a trademark of PCI-SIG. All other trademarks or
registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual
property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Artisan Components
Claudia Natalia, 408-548-3172
claudia@artisan.com
Joyce Chowla, 408-548-3122
joyce@artisan.com
or
Synopsys, Inc.
Troy Wood, 650-584-5717
twood@synopsys.com
or
Edelman
Pushpita Prasad, 650-429-2723
pushpita.prasad@edelman.com
