Cadence and Simpod Announce Agreement to Expand Modeling Support for Affirma HW/SW Verifier; DeskPOD Modeling System Speeds HW/SW SOC Verification

Business Wire, May 12, 1999

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1999--

Simpod, Inc. and Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN) today announced an agreement that allows Cadence and Simpod to jointly market advanced hardware modeling technology from Simpod with the Cadence Affirma(TM) HW/SW verifier and Affirma logic simulators enabling a high performance co-verification environment for both hardware and software.

The DeskPOD modeling system is a fully programmable interconnect mechanism that allows virtually any digital device to be supported for use with hardware description language (HDL) simulators. The unique DeskPOD modeling system reduces model development time from one to two man years to one month by eliminating the need to build complex C-language processor models required for hardware/software (HW/SW) co-verification of embedded systems.

Cisco Systems is currently using the Cadence Affirma simulators and the DeskPOD modeling system in the validation of its networking products.

"We are interested in building a software user-friendly simulation environment that allows real-life debugging capabilities," said Sofia Shtil, verification services manager at Cisco. "The DeskPOD system allows us to do that, as well as provide a very accurate and fast representation of the processors incorporated in our system."

"This announcement is another milestone in our strategy to solve integration issues early in the design cycle by providing access to models and modeling technologies that reduce the time required to concurrently verify both hardware and software," said Adam Sherer, marketing manager for the HW/SW co-verification products for Cadence. "The Simpod modeling technology allows us to respond to our customers' demands for support of the newest microprocessors and embedded cores, which frequently lack C language model support."

"The delays and costs associated with traditional methods of creating high-performance, high-accuracy processor models is becoming prohibitive. Incorporating actual silicon devices with DeskPOD, instead of instruction set or bus functional software models, provides the co-development team the most accurate model with almost immediate availability," said Richard Curtin, chief executive officer of Simpod.

Affirma NC simulator users can take advantage of the high-end processors currently supported by Simpod, including the Motorola PowerQUICC(TM) family and the NEC VR5400(TM) series of 64-bit reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) processors.

About the DeskPOD

Packaged in a convenient desktop format, the DeskPOD modeling family supports up to 608 fully programmable input/output (I/O) signals to connect between the digital sub-system and the simulation development environment. Application programming interfaces (API) support HDL-based simulators, as well as embedded software development tools. Multiple DeskPOD units can be incorporated in a system-level simulation model, providing a scalable modeling resource for design and verification.

Price and Availability

The DeskPOD systems are available from Simpod starting at a U.S. list price of $25,000.

About Cadence

Cadence is the largest supplier of software products, consulting services, and design services used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and a variety of other electronics-based products. With more than 4,000 employees and 1998 annual sales of $1.2 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world.

The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDN. More information about the company, its products and services may be obtained from the World Wide Web at http://www.cadence.com.

About Simpod

Simpod offers a family of high-performance hardware modeling systems for the co-development of digital electronic systems. The company's patented and patent-pending technologies are incorporated in the DeskPOD(TM) product for use in the co-design and co-verification of embedded systems, system-on-a-chip (SOC) and silicon intellectual property (SIP).

For more information, see the company Web site, www.simpod.com, or via e-mail, info@simpod.com. Company headquarters are located at 3080 Olcott St., Suite 100A, Santa Clara, CA. Tel: 408/330-9300.

Note to Editors: Cadence and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks, and Affirma is a trademark of Cadence Designs Systems, Inc. Simpod and DeskPOD are trademarks of Simpod, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their owners.