SGI Chooses Objectivity to Accelerate Future Product Design; Objectivity/DB at the Heart of ASIC/DB, a New Collaborative Product Design Tool

Business Wire, Oct 15, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2002

Designers Can Work Concurrently on the Same Model Speeding

Time-to-Market

Objectivity, Inc., the leading provider of scalable high-performance databases for the management of complex data, today announced that SGI (NYSE:SGI), a leader in high-performance computing technology, has selected Objectivity/DB for use in ASIC/DB, a proprietary semiconductor design system.

ASIC/DB enables SGI engineers to work on future product designs concurrently and collaboratively, speeding product development time.

The SGI Design Automation Department, located in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, created Objectivity-based ASIC/DB to enable engineers designing the next generation of SGI(R) workstations and servers to parse through and interpret huge volumes of data and to rapidly identify where product designs need to be modified or corrected. Users of ASIC/DB include SGI's distributed engineering teams in Wisconsin, California, Minnesota and New Jersey. These designers have segmented their designs into large blocks with thousands of input and output ports. The blocks communicate with one another at very high speeds, and controlling timing of the signals is critical. ASIC/DB helps designers identify problems and implement changes quickly, all in one central database.

SGI migrated to Objectivity/DB from flat text files that only a single user could access at a time. Changes were submitted by batch mode, which became very burdensome. Since SGI had successfully used Objectivity/DB previously in other development applications, the company decided to build ASIC/DB on Objectivity to gain concurrency. Concurrency and collaboration are accomplished over the Web for all of the functions. Designers log into the CGI engine and directly view the database, complete an HTML form, then click Submit for any changes they may have. Objectivity/DB allows many users to work concurrently and collaboratively, without interfering with one another. Objectivity/DB also enables SGI to perform object versioning of information such as budgets, storing past versions using the Objectivity Versioning facility.

"Because we needed to serve geographically dispersed design teams, Objectivity seemed like the natural fit for ASIC/DB, since we knew from experience that it was by design a high-performance, distributed object database," said Joel Garcia-Trevino, CAD manager for SGI. "We liked the fact that it is totally interoperable with our other design tools and allows us to work concurrently and collaboratively to accelerate our product development."

"SGI is a longtime customer of Objectivity in the CAD space, and we are pleased to see them developing new and innovative solutions with Objectivity/DB," said Jay Jarrell, president and CEO of Objectivity, Inc. "SGI can continue to benefit from accelerated time-to-market, reduced costs and enhanced competitiveness."

More About SGI

Celebrating its 20th year, SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is the world's leader in high-performance computing, visualization and the management of complex data. SGI products, services and solutions enable its technical and creative customers to gain strategic and competitive advantages in their core businesses. Whether being used to design and build safer cars and airplanes, discover new medications and oil reserves, predict the weather, entertain us with thrilling movie special effects or provide mission-critical support for government and defense, SGI systems and expertise are empowering a world of innovation and discovery. The company, located on the Web at www.sgi.com, is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and has offices worldwide.

More About Objectivity, Inc.

Objectivity, Inc. is the leading provider of distributed, scalable object databases with unrivaled support for mixed-language development and mixed-hardware environments. Objectivity boosts developer productivity, shortens time-to-market and provides the ideal platform for mission-critical applications requiring continuous performance and adaptability to future technologies.

Objectivity, Inc. is headquartered in Mountain View, California, USA. For more information, contact Objectivity by e-mail at info@objectivity.com, on the World Wide Web at http://www.objectivity.com or by calling 650/254-7100.

Note to editors: Objectivity/DB is a trademark of Objectivity, Inc. Silicon Graphics, SGI and the SGI logo are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries worldwide. All other company or product names mentioned herein remain the property of their respective owners.