IPextreme Welcomes Ridgetop Group, Inc. to Constellations

Ridgetop’s “Engineering Innovation” joins members of the groundbreaking collective

Campbell, Calif. – April 30, 2013 – IPextreme Inc. today welcomed Ridgetop Group, Inc. as the newest member of its Constellations initiative, which brings together like-minded companies to advance the state of the global semiconductor intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.

Constellations is a collective of independent IP companies and industry partners collaborating at both the marketing and engineering levels. Companies participating in Constellations offer complementary products; membership is open only to non-competing companies to encourage teamwork. Within Constellations, companies work together and share resources to promote mutual success. IPextreme serves as the program organizer and facilitator.

“We looked for effective ways to bring our innovative IP to market, and the Constellations program stands out as a unique and powerful vehicle to reach the IC design community,” said Andrew Levy, Vice President of Ridgetop’s Semiconductor and Precision Instruments Division. “Our InstaCell™ library of analog and mixed-signal IP, with a special focus on state-of-the-art data converters, is a perfect complement to the leading design blocks from the other Constellations members, and we look forward to working closely with them in addressing the needs of chip companies around the world.”

“We’re excited to have Ridgetop Group become a member of Constellations,” said Warren Savage, President & CEO of IPextreme. “Ridgetop originally developed its leading-edge semiconductors and IP for mil-aero markets that require high performance and reliability, and these IP cores are now in demand in other markets.”

Products and services offered by Constellations member companies are featured on IPextreme’s Xena™ IP management system. Each member is given a private area on the Xena cloud with full access to all capabilities of Xena, including cataloging, product management, and customer support. Xena also provides a convenient method for member companies and their customers to recommend IP products from other member companies to colleagues and other customers. Visitors may go to https://constellations.xena-cloud.com to view the available products from each of the member companies.

Constellations holds member events throughout the year and facilitates joint participation at trade shows around the world. Member companies also produce informational webinars and other such educational materials. Increased press exposure and media coverage are added bonuses as companies collaborate on projects and promote one another through their own channels, in turn. Examples of this collaboration in action can be seen in videos available on IPextreme’s “IP WATCH” video channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/watchipextreme.

About Constellations

Constellations is a collective of independent IP companies and industry partners working together at both the marketing and engineering levels to develop and promote advanced IP solutions. IPextreme initiated Constellations in 2010 and is the driving force behind the collective, serving as program organizer and facilitator.

Companies participating in Constellations offer complementary products, creating a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor IP from which customers can develop complete SoC solutions. The program is open only to non-competing companies to encourage teamwork and cooperation—member companies work together, share resources to promote mutual success, and participate in events together. Constellations member companies currently include: Atrenta Inc.; Certus Semiconductor; IPextreme, Inc.; Recore Systems; Ridgetop Group Inc.; and Sonics, Inc.

Products of Constellations companies are featured in the Constellations Semiconductor IP Center, powered by IPextreme’s Xena™ IP management system. The IP Center enables members to easily catalog, distribute, and support their products. Each member company is given a private area on the Xena cloud with full access to all capabilities of Xena. Registered guests can browse all available IP and services in the Constellations Semiconductor IP Center for free at https://constellations.xena-cloud.com.

Constellations Membership and Pricing

The Constellations program continues to expand and grow, and enrollment is currently open. Annual membership in the Constellations program is $5,000. Included with this fee are two full Xena user licenses. Additional Xena licenses are available to Constellations members at a 50% discount.

For more information and details on becoming a part of this groundbreaking initiative, visit http://www.ip-extreme.com/partners/constellations.shtml.

About IPextreme, Inc.

IPextreme is an industry leader in the commercialization and licensing of semiconductor IP (intellectual property). Working with other leading companies in the semiconductor industry, such as Freescale, Infineon, Motorola, National Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments, IPextreme provides a rich portfolio of famous IP to hundreds of SoC designers worldwide. IPextreme also licenses its proprietary Xena cloud-based technology to other IP and semiconductor companies, providing a secure environment for the marketing, evaluation, licensing, management, and support of their IP portfolios.

Founded in 2004, IPextreme has over 100 customers in more than 20 countries. Offices are located in Campbell, California; Munich, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan, with representatives in China, India, Israel, Korea, and Taiwan.

To learn more, please visit www.ip-extreme.com.

About Ridgetop Group, Inc.

Ridgetop Group, Inc. is the world leader in providing advanced electronic prognostics and health management (PHM) solutions, semiconductor IP blocks, and built-in self-test (BIST) solutions for critical applications. Ridgetop Group has a proven library of IP cores and board-level solutions for optimized integrated subsystems and systems.

Ridgetop Group is foundry-agnostic and will select a technology best suited to the customer’s specific requirements. Founded in 2000 with the purpose of introducing revolutionary tools to improve performance of mission-critical electronic systems, Ridgetop has built an impressive list of customers in North America, Europe, and Asia.

With a strong management team and world-class technical staff, Ridgetop has established a stellar reputation serving its government and commercial customers with "best of class" solutions. Our technical staff members have impressive credentials and experience from leading firms such as IBM, Bell Labs, Honeywell, Intel, and Burr-Brown (now Texas Instruments).

Ridgetop also maintains strong links with leading universities that add depth and leverage to our internal research capabilities. This relationship provides a true "win-win" situation for developing new and advanced techniques for dealing with difficult electronic problems.

To learn more, please visit http://www.ridgetopgroup.com.