Virtual Silicon Selects IMS' Orion to Test Advanced Embedded Memories

BEAVERTON, Ore., April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Integrated Measurement Systems, Inc. (IMS), A Credence Company, today announced that Virtual Silicon Technology has selected an Orion(TM) memory engineering validation test system for design verification of its 0.25 um non-volatile embedded memory cores. Virtual Silicon chose the Orion based on the system"s unmatched performance and the ease-of-use that design engineers require to quickly characterize and verify advanced memory devices.

As memories become larger, they are more expensive to produce and more prone to defects. At the same time, embedded memory cores occupy an increasing amount of space on most system-on-chip (SoC) devices. This circuitry is often the determining factor in whether an IC, and ultimately the end product, works or fails. Virtual Silicon"s embedded memory products are designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of engineers who need the highest quality, maximum performance memory for SoC designs. The Orion will enable Virtual Silicon to quickly debug and validate the performance of these memory devices, ensuring that intended specifications are met. Using the Orion, Virtual Silicon will save valuable time during the development cycle, allowing them to bring high-performance memory to market quicker while lowering overall device development costs.

"Virtual Silicon"s commitment to providing semiconductor IP, which has been proven in silicon, mandates that we have a full in-house test and characterization capability,"" said John Ford, vice president of marketing at Virtual Silicon. "Virtual Silicon will use the Orion to answer critical "what-if" design scenarios to ensure our embedded memory cores are optimized for yield, speed, density and power consumption. Defining these parameters early in the design process enables us to move well-evaluated, error-free designs into the production flow quickly and economically.""

"The Orion will enable Virtual Silicon to speed designs from first silicon to production, with fewer debug iterations,"" said Mark Allison, general manager of IMS" Memory Products. "The Orion meets the specialized needs of Virtual Silicon"s design, product and test engineers while providing them with a dedicated engineering platform for debug, characterization, yield enhancement, process monitoring and failure analysis of their latest memory devices.""

About Virtual Silicon Technology

Virtual Silicon is a leading supplier of semiconductor intellectual property and process technology to manufacturers and designers of complex systems-on-chip (SoC). Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, the company provides process-specific embedded components that serve the wireless, networking, graphics, communication and computing markets. Customers include leading fabless semiconductor companies, integrated semiconductor manufacturers, foundries and SoC developers who demand leading edge technology for their semiconductor innovations. For more information, call 408-548-2700 or visit Virtual Silicon online at www.virtual-silicon.com.

About Orion

IMS" Orion is a high-speed, low-cost engineering validation test system dedicated to enhancing productivity and workflows in the engineering lab. Compact and easy-to-use, Orion enables engineers to quickly and accurately discover problems and their root cause failures. The system features a powerful pattern generator that can produce complex test patterns including vector depths of up to one megabyte. Offering 200/400 MHz performance, Orion can be used to debug advanced, high-speed memory devices including static and dynamic random access memories (SRAMS and DRAMS) as well as synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs) and Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAMs.

About Integrated Measurement Systems (IMS) -- A Credence Company

IMS designs, manufactures, markets and services a family of versatile, high-performance engineering validation test systems for validation, characterization and yield enhancement of complex memory, logic, and mixed-signal devices. In addition, IMS is the industry"s leading provider of design-to-test productivity software, providing an integrated test development environment between electronic design automation (EDA) and automated test equipment (ATE) suppliers. A wholly owned subsidiary of Credence Systems Corporation, IMS is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, with sales offices throughout the world. In 2001, IMS was ranked number one in pure test for the eighth consecutive year in the VLSI Research Inc. Annual 10 BEST Customer Satisfaction Survey of Test and Material Handling Suppliers. For additional information, please visit www.ims.com.

About Credence

Credence Systems Corporation is changing the future of semiconductor production by integrating test solutions throughout the design, validation and production processes. A leader in the manufacture of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the global semiconductor industry, Credence and its subsidiaries also provide design and engineering validation test solutions that enable faster time-to-market with lower total cost-of-test. Headquartered in Fremont, California, the Company is an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and maintains advanced production and design facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon. More information is available at http://www.credence.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain statements that are forward-looking and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company"s actual results in future periods to be materially different from the future performance suggested in this release. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the Company"s ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, economic and currency instability in the Asia Pacific region, fluctuation in customer demand, timing and volume of orders and shipments, competition and pricing pressures, reliability and quality issues, the Company"s ability to complete the development of its new products, product mix, overhead absorption, cyclicality and downturns in the semiconductor industry, continued dependence on "turns"" orders to achieve revenue objectives, the timing of new technology, product introductions, the risk of early obsolescence and the Company"s ability to control expenses (including the ability to identify and successfully institute additional cost-saving measures). Further, the Company operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the Company"s control. Reference is made to the discussion of risk factors detailed in the Company"s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to the Company, which is subject to change. Although any such projections and the factors influencing them will likely change, the Company will not necessarily update the information, since the Company is only to provide guidance at certain points during the year. Actual events or results could differ materially and no reader of this release should assume later in the quarter that the information provided today is still valid. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.

NOTE: Credence is a registered trademark, and Credence Systems, Integrated Measurement Systems, IMS, and Orion are trademarks of Credence Systems Corporation and its subsidiaries. Other trademarks that may be mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Patricia MacLeod, Sr. Account Executive, Public Relations of e21 Corp., +1-510-226-6780 ext. 205, or fax, +1-510-226-9902, or patricia_macleod@e21corp.com, for Credence Systems Corporation; or Judy Dale, Director, Marketing Communications of Credence Systems Corporation, +1-510-492-3118, or fax, +1-510-623-2524, or judy_dale@credence.com.