CoWare and Verisity Provide a Unified System-Level Design Flow With a Re-usable Testbench

SANTA CLARA & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2002--CoWare(TM), Inc. and Verisity, Ltd. (Nasdaq:VRST - news) announced that Verisity's Specman Elite(TM) functional verification software now is integrated with the CoWare N2C(TM) hardware/software co-design and co-verification environment. Designers can now quickly develop and re-use functional testbenches in the System-on-Chip (SoC) design process.

"We asked CoWare and Verisity to work together to provide an integrated verification solution," stated Jean-Marc Chateau, director, Consumer and Microcontroller Groups, STMicroelectronics. "Now we can use Verisity's Specman Elite to build powerful testbenches and thoroughly check the functionality of our designs with CoWare N2C. Then, we can use those same testbenches in the rest of our design flow and in derivative designs."

STMicroelectronics uses the C-based CoWare N2C design system to reduce time to market and improve productivity through hardware/software co-design and co-verification. STMicroelectronics uses Verisity's Specman Elite as their testbench automation tool of choice to verify the functionality of their ST bus-based products. Until now, testbenches developed in CoWare N2C were not easily re-used. With this interface between the tools, CoWare N2C communicates with Verisity's Specman Elite during simulation runs to enable test generation and data checking capabilities. Designers can then use and improve on the same testbench as they move from the CoWare environment to RTL implementation.

An additional benefit of this integration is that testbenches developed for one design using Specman Elite can easily be re-used with other designs, making it ideal for platform-based design.

"The earlier in the design process that you can verify the functionality of a design, the easier and faster it is to make any necessary corrections," stated CoWare's President and CEO, Guido Arnout. "Verisity's Specman Elite provides first class testbench generation capabilities that now can be used throughout the entire hardware/software co-design and co-verification flow."

According to Verisity's CEO, Moshe Gavrielov, the CoWare partnership marks an important step in Verisity's evolution. "Customers brought us together because they wanted to use our tools together for platform design and verification. With CoWare, we are able to team with a market-proven provider of hardware/software co-design and co-verification tools and deliver our customers an integrated verification flow."

By modeling the system in C and using the CoWare N2C methodology, the designer can now verify the component or the system at several design abstraction levels, building the testbench with Specman Elite along the way. System architects designing a new system will develop an executable specification in CoWare N2C and a functional testbench in Verisity's proprietary `e' language. The executable specification will be simulated and tested, and the design will be refined through abstraction levels as notions of timing and clocks are added. The designer can access the Verisity testbench in CoWare N2C for co-design and co-verification.

This integrated environment, available in the CoWare N2C design system, requires that customers buy licenses from each company. For more information, please contact partners@CoWare.com.

About CoWare

CoWare, Inc. provides tools and methodologies that help engineering teams cut their system-on-a-chip design times in half. CoWare N2C provides an efficient means to capture, analyze, and implement a system specification, with parallel development by hardware and software teams. In addition, CoWare N2C greatly enhances IP re-use and selection, further reducing design time. The CoWare N2C software is employed by major systems and semiconductor companies including Alcatel, Canon, Fujitsu, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Sony and STMicroelectronics. For more information, visit www.CoWare.com.

About Verisity

Verisity is the leading provider of proprietary technologies and software products used to efficiently verify designs of electronic systems and complex integrated circuits that are essential to the communications and other high growth segments of the electronics industry. Verisity's products automate the process of detecting flaws in these designs, enabling customers to deliver higher quality products, accelerate time-to-market and reduce overall product development costs.

Verisity Design, Inc.'s principal executive offices are located in Mountain View. Verisity's principal research and development offices are located in Rosh Ha'ain, Israel. For more information, see Verisity's web site at www.verisity.com.

Note to Editors: CoWare and CoWare N2C are trademarks of CoWare, Inc.

Verisity is a registered trademark and Specman Elite is a trademark of Verisity Design, Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Contact:
     Verisity Design, Inc.
     Jennifer Bilsey, 650/934-6823
     jen@verisity.com
        or
     CoWare, Inc.
     Mindy Powers, 408/845-7613
     mindy@CoWare.com
        or
     New Ideas in Communications
     Paula Jones, 650/967-3711
     paula@newiic.com