Magma Enhances DFM Product Offering with Blast Yield TX and New LPC Capabilities in Quartz DRC — Supports TSMC 65-nm Process; Integrated CMP Modeling, CAA and LPC Capabilities Improve Yield

Business Wire, May 17, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Magma(R) Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of semiconductor design software, today announced Blast Yield(TM) TX, an enhancement to Blast Yield that integrates the TSMC virtual chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) engine and TSMC-correlated critical area analysis (CAA), and the new lithography process check (LPC) capabilities of Quartz(TM) DRC, into the Magma Blast Fusion(R) flow. With Blast Yield TX and Quartz DRC, designers can address yield issues throughout the RTL-to-GDSII flow to improve yield and accelerate the design cycle.

In support of the recently announced TSMC 65-nanometer (nm) process technology, Magma is working with TSMC to qualify the CAA and CMP modeling capabilities in Blast Yield TX and the LPC capabilities in Quartz DRC for the TSMC Design-for-Manufacturability (DFM) Compliance Initiative.

"At 65 nanometers and below, achieving profitability is paramount," said Kam Kittrell, general manager of Magma's Design Implementation Business Unit. "Blast Yield TX and Quartz DRC allow designers to better address DFM issues during design implementation, enhance manufacturability, improve yields and thus reduce costs and increase profit margins."

"TSMC and Magma have been working together at multiple process nodes to support our mutual customers," said Edward Wan, senior director of Design Service Marketing at TSMC. "This latest collaboration has produced an integrated DFM offering to support the TSMC 65-nm process technology. Magma's Blast Yield TX and Quartz DRC enable our mutual customers to analyze and optimize the design for manufacturing and allows a better prediction of hot spots based on TSMC nanometer process technologies."

About Blast Yield TX

Blast Yield TX integrates several capabilities into the Magma RTL-to-GDSII flow to enhance manufacturability of designs targeted to TSMC 65-nm processes:

Chemical-mechanical Polishing (CMP) -- The CMP process is used to remove all the residual metals necessary to achieve a global planarization. However, layout pattern variation resulting in metal dishing and oxide erosion often decreases chip yield and degrades circuit performance. When that happens, dummy metal fill becomes a practical technique for reducing layout pattern variation. The TSMC VCMP (Virtual CMP) simulation engine is used to reduce process variation. To improve the quality of dummy metal fill insertion and its impact on RC extraction and timing, the VCMP simulation engine is being integrated into Blast Yield TX, allowing designers to analyze VCMP simulation results to evaluate and improve the quality of dummy metal fill and reduce process variations.

Critical Area Analysis (CAA) -- CAA provides designers with an estimate of the probability that a chip might fail because of process defects. Blast Yield TX enables designers to quickly identify and fix the CAA violations during the design process by spreading and widening wires.

About Quartz DRC

Lithography Process Checks (LPC) -- Efficient modeling of lithographic and CMP effects enable more accurate prediction of 65-nm silicon performance. Quartz DRC incorporates the LPC capabilities, providing automatic and immediate feedback to the designer to ensure compliance to TSMC's lithography and process requirements. This LPC capability is also available for independent sign-off as an option to Quartz DRC.

About Magma

Magma's software for integrated circuit (IC) design is recognized as embodying the best in semiconductor technology. The world's top chip companies use Magma's EDA software to design and verify complex, high-performance ICs for communications, computing, consumer electronics and networking applications, while at the same time reducing design time and costs. Magma provides software for IC implementation, analysis, physical verification, characterization and programmable logic design, and the company's integrated RTL-to-GDSII design flow offers "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon"(TM). Magma is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. with offices around the world. Magma's stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.

Magma and Blast Fusion are registered trademarks, and Blast Yield, Quartz and "The Fastest Path from RTL to Silicon" are trademarks of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements about the features and benefits of Magma software and TSMC processes technology generally, and including without limitation statements that Blast Yield TX and Quartz DRC allow designers to better address DFM issues during design implementation, enhance manufacturability, improve yields and thus reduce costs and increase profit margins, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to Magma's and TSMC's decisions to continue to work together and the companies' abilities to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and the companies' products' abilities to produce desired results. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in Magma's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Magma undertakes no additional obligation to update these forward-looking statements.