Verisity Extends Acceleration Architecture with Behavioral-Level Processors; Testbench Acceleration Heralded as One of the First Key Applications

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2004-- Verisity Ltd. (Nasdaq:VRST), the leading supplier of Verification Process Automation (VPA) solutions, has extended its patented 'SEmulation' architecture with the promise to dramatically improve the flow from event-based simulation to very high-performance design, testbench and assertion acceleration. Verisity, which recently acquired the technology as part of its acquisition of Axis Systems, is extending the product architecture by embedding customizable behavioral-level processors. Behavioral processors are a natural extension of SEmulation technology, and enable the movement of critical simulation and verification elements into high-performance hardware. The technology advances associated with behavioral acceleration will yield approximately a 10X boost in acceleration performance with a fraction of the effort required to move from event-based simulation to directly coupled event-based acceleration. It will also enable improved debugging and ease-of-use for the entire design team.

The SEmulation event-based architecture, the technology foundation of Verisity's XoC(TM), Xtreme(R) and Xcite(R) verification products, now employ thousands of dynamically programmable behavioral processors that execute in parallel to achieve dramatically faster simulation and verification processing. This extended technology provides engineers with freedom of choice, supporting SystemC, Verilog, VHDL, SystemVerilog, the emerging IEEE e P1647 verification language, popular assertion languages, and standard interfaces.

Testbench acceleration is the first application in this technology with the first-ever capability to accelerate testbench and instrumented verification. Initial field tests are underway with eCelerator(TM) in joint key customers.

"This is a breakthrough for the performance of SoC verification as it goes beyond conventional RTL emulation and acceleration, enabling hardware verification of the full system," said Ping Tseng, vice president of HDL Technology for Verisity. "We originally built our acceleration and emulation technology on an event-based simulation technology. We are now extending it natively to support all requirements to support block, chip, system and project-level verification process automation (VPA)."

Embedded Stimulus Generators Drive Performance
Engineers using Verisity's next-generation acceleration solutions will see much higher performance when the stimulus for testbenches and behavioral models are embedded into the hardware. Typically, stimulus generation is serial process running on a workstation. The behavioral acceleration in the SEmulation architecture enables engineers to directly embed stimulus generators into multiple behavioral processors. They can then run stimulus generation in parallel for their testbenches or behavioral models, thereby improving the overall performance.

Debugging Improves Through Embedded Instrumentation
Additional productivity gains are achieved through the unique debugging visibility and superior reporting capabilities. After embedding instrumentation directly into the behavioral processors, such as assertions or monitors, engineers can trigger and extract meaningful critical information during runtime to pinpoint specific areas of interest. In contrast, the creation of just-in-time data requires significant manual data management from traditional hardware-assisted verification. Verisity provides the fastest method for engineers to get the data they need quickly.

About Verisity
Verisity Ltd. (Nasdaq:VRST) is the leading supplier of process automation solutions for the functional verification market. The Company addresses customers' critical business issues with its market-leading software and intellectual property (IP) that effectively and efficiently verify the design of electronic systems and complex integrated circuits for the communications, computing and consumer electronics global markets. Verisity's VPA solutions enable projects to move from executable verification plans to unit, chip/system and project level 'total coverage' and verification closure, while maximizing productivity, product quality and predictability of schedules. The Company's strong market presence is driven by its proven technology, methodology and solid strategic partnerships and programs.

Verisity's customer list includes leading companies in all strategic technology sectors. Verisity is a global organization with offices throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. Verisity's principal executive offices are located in Mountain View, Calif., with its principal research and development offices located in Rosh Ha'ain, Israel. For more information, visit www.verisity.com.

Verisity, the Verisity logo and eCelerator are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Verisity Design, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. Xcite, XoC and Xtreme are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Axis Systems, a Verisity company, in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

SOURCE: Verisity Design, Inc.