Berkeley Design Automation Secures Strategic Investment by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; World's Largest Consumer Electronics Company Selects Precision Circuit Analysis for Advanced Analog and RF Verification

Business Wire, July 17, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Berkeley Design Automation Inc., provider of Precision Circuit Analysis(TM) technology for advanced analog and RF integrated circuits (ICs), today announced that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE:MC), the world's largest consumer electronics company, has made an investment in the company through its venture group based in San Jose. After assessing the company's latest technology, Panasonic joined previous investors Woodside Fund and Bessemer Ventures in the $6M Series B funding.

Leading-edge consumer electronics products are driving integrated circuit technology in all dimensions -- performance, cost, integration, power consumption, and time-to-market. The analog/RF circuitry in these ICs is both the largest differentiator and the most difficult design challenge in getting them into volume production. Berkeley Design Automation's Precision Circuit Analysis technology enables designers to rapidly and accurately verify problems that otherwise would be impractical or infeasible. Using this technology, design teams save precious design time, lower risk, and deliver smaller, lower-power silicon.

"We face rapid product development cycles and mass-market cost pressures in the audio, video, home, and wireless consumer products we develop," said Yoshiyuki Miyabe, Director of Corporate R&D Strategy at Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. "Analog and RF circuits make up a significant portion of the semiconductors in these products. Today's circuit verification tools are unable to deliver the functionality, speed, and accuracy required for these aggressive consumer electronics designs."

"After an extensive evaluation, we determined that Berkeley Design Automation's Precision Circuit Analysis technology presents a strategic competitive advantage to Panasonic and is critical to our success," added Dilip Sampath, Venture Partner with Panasonic. "We believe in the technology so much that we decided to invest in the company."

Berkeley Design Automation will use the investment to launch its Precision Circuit Analysis technology. The company entered the market last year with PLL Noise Analyzer(TM) which focused on a narrow, but notoriously difficult problem. Having proven the silicon accuracy, performance, and robustness of its technology on over 75 production designs, the company is readying itself to enter the general market to tackle a wide range of the most difficult analog/RF verification problems.

"We are delighted and honored to have Matsushita Electric Industrial as an investor," said Ravi Subramanian, CEO at Berkeley Design Automation. "As the world's largest consumer electronics company, Matsushita deploys some of the world's most advanced design platforms for consumer electronics IC design. This investment validates not only our technology; it also validates its positive disruptive potential in analog/RF circuit design."

About Berkeley Design Automation

Berkeley Design Automation Inc. is a recognized leader in advanced analog/RF verification. Its Precision Circuit Analysis technology combines the accuracy, performance, and robustness needed to verify GHz designs in nanometer-scale silicon. Berkeley Design Automation is the recipient of the 2006 Red Herring 100 North America Award, making it the first EDA company to earn such a distinction in 5 years. Founded in 2003, the company is funded by Woodside Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. For more information, see http://www.berkeley-da.com.

PLL Noise Analyzer, Stochastic Nonlinear Engine, and Precision Circuit Analysis are trademarks of Berkeley Design Automation, Inc. Berkeley Design is a registered trademark of Berkeley Design Automation, Inc.

HSPICE is a registered trademark of Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS). Spectre is a registered trademark of Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS).