Synopsys Extends Leadership in Storage Standards Verification IP with NVM Express

Offers First-to-Market VIP for the Emerging NVMe Storage Interface Protocol

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 22, 2012 -- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announced availability of verification IP (VIP) for Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), an emerging storage protocol for connecting solid state drives (SSDs) directly to the PCI Express® interface. With the addition of the NVM Express protocol to its leading serial ATA (SATA) and serial attached SCSI (SAS) verification IP, Synopsys expands its portfolio and leadership in verification IP for storage protocols.

The first-to-market release of NVMe verification IP was enabled by Synopsys' recent acquisition of ExpertIO, which brought expertise and a strong portfolio of storage-based verification IP. ExpertIO has been an active member and contributor to the NVM Express architectural committee since its inception.

"Synopsys is focused on delivering high-performance, easy-to-use, high-quality verification IP across a full spectrum of methodologies and simulators," said Craig Stoops, group director, research and development in the Synopsys Verification Group. "The addition of NVMe further expands our portfolio of verification IP and enables early NVMe adopters to use this emerging protocol to better meet their aggressive time-to-market windows."

"NVM Express is a key enabler for high-performance PCIe SSDs," said Amber Huffman, chair of the NVM Express Working Group and principal engineer of the Intel Storage Technologies Group. "The availability of verification IP for NVM Express at this stage of development will enable faster adoption of this exciting new technology. We expect to see NVM Express SSD products shipping later this year."

NVMe provides a command set, queuing layer and register interface optimized for PCI Express-based SSDs. The NVMe verification IP is a new upper-level protocol layer that can be integrated with Synopsys' industry-proven ExpertIO PCI Express verification IP.

Availability

The verification IP for NVM Express is available immediately with support for SystemVerilog and UVM on major simulators. See the complete list of Synopsys verification IP at http://www.synopsys.com/VIP. For more information on NVM Express visit http://www.nvmexpress.org.

About Synopsys®

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.