Mentor Graphics Announces Synthesis Support For Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs
WILSONVILLE, Ore.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 14, 2004—
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT), today
announced that its suite of advanced synthesis products will support
the newly introduced Virtex-4(TM) field-programmable gate arrays
(FPGAs) from Xilinx, Inc. Customers who use the Precision(R) RTL or
LeonardoSpectrum(TM) tools can now immediately request software that
supports the full range of Virtex-4 devices, while the Precision(R)
Physical tool, the advanced physical synthesis solution from Mentor
Graphics, offers beta-level support. Xilinx and Mentor Graphics have
collaborated over the past year to ensure mutual customers will have
support from both companies upon the release of the ISE 6.3i place and
route software for Virtex-4 from Xilinx.
"Capitalizing on the performance and capabilities that Virtex-4
devices offer requires customers to adopt the advanced design,
analysis and synthesis techniques we integrate into all of our
products," said Simon Bloch, general manager, Design Creation and
Synthesis Division, Mentor Graphics. "It was important for us to
provide comprehensive Virtex-4 device support to our customers, across
our entire family of FPGA synthesis tools, as soon as possible.
Whether coming to Virtex-4 from the ASIC world, from other FPGA
vendors or from lower performance Xilinx parts, customers should be
able to use their familiar tools like Precision Synthesis and
LeonardoSpectrum to manage their ever increasing complexity challenges
and time-to-market demands."
Both companies started joint work in April 2003. Initial Precision
RTL Synthesis support has been available in a limited release form
since as early as January 2004. "Mentor Graphics is a key supplier for
FPGA users and having their support for our new Virtex-4 family is
very important to our mutual customers," said Steve Lass, director of
software product marketing, Xilinx. "We have closely collaborated in
both the LeonardoSpectrum and Precision Synthesis testing efforts, and
are confident that these and other advanced Mentor Graphics products
will enable designers to fully realize the benefits delivered in the
revolutionary Virtex-4 FPGA architecture."
The Precision Synthesis tool suite integrates logical (Precision
RTL) and physical (Precision Physical) synthesis techniques to define
a new approach to complex FPGA design. Built on a unified data model,
it allows designers to cross-probe between multiple views, giving
users added control when analyzing a design. The intuitive debug
environment includes an incremental timing analysis tool that allows
companies to solve next-generation FPGA implementation and timing
challenges, resulting in shorter design cycles and significantly
higher performance. The LeonardoSpectrum tool from Mentor Graphics is
the mature, industry-proven synthesis product for both FPGA and
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design.
About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) 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 3,800 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, Precision and Leonardo are registered trademarks
and LeonardoSpectrum is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation.
All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or
trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact:
Mentor Graphics
Debra Layton, 720-494-1043
debra_layton@mentor.com
OR
Weber Shandwick
Emily Taylor, 503-552-3733
etaylor@webershandwick.com
