CoWare and Forte Deliver First Integrated SystemC-based Solution For Electronic System Level (ESL) Design to Implementation

SAN JOSE, Calif.--November 15, 2004 -- CoWare, Inc., the leading supplier of system-level electronic design automation (EDA) software and services, and Forte Design Systems, the market leader in behavioral synthesis, announced the first integrated SystemC-based solution for electronic system-level (ESL) design to implementation. The tight integration of CoWare's SystemC-based ConvergenSC™ system-on-chip (SoC) design tools and Forte’s Cynthesizer™ SystemC behavioral synthesis product unites system architecture, simulation, and synthesis in a first-of-its kind flow. Users can explore and validate a design's system architecture in CoWare’s ConvergenSC, then synthesize to RTL using Forte's Cynthesizer, and verify the RTL in a system context with the same SystemC model.

Expanding Adoption of ESL Design
"Integrating behavioral synthesis into our SystemC flow accelerates adoption by automating the path to implementation," said Mark Milligan, vice president of marketing, CoWare. "By joining forces with Forte, ConvergenSC and Cynthesizer will help ease the adoption of ESL methodologies for our customers. We are proud to partner with the leader in behavioral synthesis to deliver this solution."

"With the integration of ConvergenSC and Cynthesizer, we are providing our customers with a new way of creating their SystemC designs, and a faster way of verifying them," said Brett Cline, vice president of marketing at Forte. "By partnering with the industry leader in system-level design, our customers have access to a more complete SystemC design environment to ease adoption and allow them to realize the benefits of ESL design faster."

Both System and Hardware Designers to Benefit
System designers developing platforms and SoC architectures in SystemC need an automated path to implementation to help them avoid manual re-work and to prevent divergence between their SystemC model and the optimal RTL implementation. Now, ConvergenSC users can automatically generate RTL for targeted subsystem blocks using Cynthesizer, and then validate candidate RTL implementations in the system with embedded software. Hardware designers adopting SystemC behavioral synthesis need simulation to functionally verify their design before and after synthesis. With this integration, Cynthesizer users now have access to high-performance commercial simulation with powerful multi-thread SystemC debugging and SystemC/HDL co-simulation with ConvergenSC. The combined solution provides a fast path from SystemC to high quality, re-targetable RTL.

Availability
ConvergenSC 2004.2 is available immediately from CoWare. For more information, contact your local sales office or visit www.coware.com. Cynthesizer 2.3.4 is available immediately from Forte. For more information, contact your local sales office or visit www.ForteDS.com.

About CoWare ConvergenSC
CoWare ConvergenSC speeds the concurrent design of SoCs with embedded software. The ConvergenSC product family combines hardware/software partitioning and platform assembly together with simulation, debug and analysis capabilities. Together with the ConvergenSC Model Library, the largest IP model library for SystemC, customers can rapidly create and validate SoC designs at the transaction level in SystemC. For pricing information, contact your local sales office. For more information on ConvergenSC and CoWare’s other products, visit www.coware.com.

About Forte Cynthesizer
Forte's Cynthesizer significantly reduces the time needed to create complex chips and systems by automatically generating high-quality RTL designs from high-level algorithms. Cynthesizer is silicon proven with uncompromising quality of results that often exceed hand coded RTL. It is the only behavioral synthesis product that offers designers a complete environment including synthesis, verification, and co-simulation. Cynthesizer has been used on over 60 designs and is in production use in many of the largest systems and semiconductor companies worldwide.

About CoWare
CoWare is the leading supplier of system-level electronic design automation (EDA) software tools and services. CoWare offers a comprehensive set of electronic system-level (ESL) tools that enable SoC developers to "differentiate by design" through the creation of system-IP including embedded processors, on-chip buses, and DSP algorithms; the architecture of optimized SoC platforms; and hardware/software co-design. The company's solutions are based on open industry standards including SystemC. CoWare's customers are major systems, semiconductor, and IP companies in the market where consumer electronics, computing, and communications converge. CoWare's corporate investors include ARM Ltd. [(LSE:ARM);(Nasdaq: ARMHY)], Cadence Design Systems (NYSE:CDN), STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE). CoWare is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has offices around the world. For more information about CoWare and its products and services, visit http://www.coware.com.

About Forte Design Systems
Forte Design Systems is a leading provider of software products that enable design at a higher level of abstraction. Forte’s innovative Cynthesizer behavioral synthesis product allows design teams creating complex electronic systems from algorithmic designs using ASICs, SoCs, and FPGAs to significantly reduce their overall design and verification time. Forte is headquartered at 100 Century Center Court, San Jose, CA 95112. For more information, visit www.ForteDS.com.

Contact CoWare Inc. Fill out this form for contacting a CoWare Inc. representative. Your Name: Your E-mail address: Your Company address: Your Phone Number: Write your message: