Xilinx, Verplex Collaborate to Provide Formal Verification At Various Stages of FPGA Design Flow

SAN JOSE & MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2001-- Xilinx, Inc. and Verplex(TM) Systems, Inc., today launched one of the first formal verification environments specifically for the design of high-density field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

The design environment includes the Verplex Conformal Equivalence Checker and the Xilinx Integrated Software Environment (ISE) 4.1i.

In related news, Verplex announced that its Conformal Equivalence Checker now supports Xilinx Virtex, Virtex II Platform FPGAs and Spartan II device family.

``We believe simulation by itself is no longer adequate for verifying complex FPGA designs,'' notes C. Michael Chang, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Verplex. ``The teaming of Xilinx and Verplex tools enables complex FPGA designers to apply formal verification techniques to reduce design cycle times in order to meet their demanding time to market challenges.''

``As FPGAs become more and more complex, designers are turning to proven IC design solutions like formal verification,'' adds Rich Sevcik, vice president and general manager of Xilinx. ``These designers will find that formal verification tools like Verplex's Conformal Logic Equivalence Checker can be used successfully throughout the design flow to functionally verify designs at every checkpoint.''

The FPGA Verification Flow

Formal verification has become an important piece of an FPGA design environment as design density increases. Equivalence checking, part of a formal verification methodology, automatically detects functional inconsistencies, providing a reliable way to ensure that the final design implementation does what the register transfer level (RTL) code specifies.

Together with Xilinx ISE, Conformal Equivalence Checker can provide equivalence checking at the RTL and gate level of the design flow to functionally verify designs at every checkpoint.

Conformal Equivalence Checker and Xilinx ISE provide fast runtimes and high capacity to handle large FPGA designs. Users can adopt the formal verification methodology at any design stage from the RTL design level to the final transistor level design. Both have easy-to-use interfaces that enable designers to use them with minimal training.

Pricing and Availability

Software in the FPGA formal verification design flow support Hewlett Packard and Sun Microsystems operating systems. Tools are priced at separately. Conformal Equivalence Checker is priced at $105,000 U.S. pricing. New seats of ISE will be available in September with pricing starting at $695. A free, downloadable WebPACK version will be available later this quarter.

For more information, contact Tom Senna, vice president of business development at Verplex, at (408) 586-0392 or via email at tomsenna@verplex.com.

About Verplex

Verplex Systems Inc. is an EDA company focused on delivering high-speed, high-capacity and easy-to-use formal verification products for complex SOC design. Founded in 1997, it is privately held and funded by leading venture capital firms. Corporate headquarters is located at 300 Montague Expressway, Suite 100, Milpitas, Calif. 95035. Telephone: (408) 586-0300. Facsimile: (408) 586-0230. Email: info@verplex.com. Online information is found at its web site: http://www.verplex.com.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the leading innovator of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com/ise.

Verplex and BlackTie are trademarks of Verplex Systems Inc. All other companies and products referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.