Mentor Graphics Announces Synthesis Support for Xilinx Virtex-5 FXT Field Programmable Gate Arrays

Business Wire, April 1, 2008

WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ:MENT) today announced that its suite of advanced synthesis products support Virtex[TM]-5 FXT field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) -- the system integration platform from Xilinx, Inc., optimized for high-performance embedded processing, digital signal processing (DSP) and high-speed serial connectivity. Support for the new Virtex-5 FXT platform is available now in the Mentor Graphics Precision([R]) RTL and Precision RTL Plus products, providing state-of-the-art synthesis for quickly implementing large, cost-efficient system-level designs that meet target specifications.

The 65nm Virtex-5 FXT platform, with up to two PowerPC[R] 440 embedded processor blocks as well as high-performance DSP and high-speed serial capabilities, delivers broad system integration capabilities for creating system solutions in support of high-performance applications such as wireless, video, military and aerospace. The processor, DSP and high-speed serial integration help reduce board complexity and lower the overall cost of system design.

"Virtex-5 FXT FPGAs provide integrated solutions for designs that previously required an ASIC or ASSP, reducing design respins and overall development costs," said Simon Bloch, general manager, Mentor Graphics Design Creation and Synthesis Division. "Our mutual customers will benefit from our physical synthesis solution that has the ability to analyze and manage large complex designs that can be implemented into the new Virtex-5 FXT platform."

Xilinx and Mentor Graphics spent the last several months on integration and support of the Virtex-5 FXT platform with Mentor Graphics' family of synthesis tools. "FPGAs are expected to outpace the semiconductor market, and Xilinx strives to deliver the most flexible, low-cost, and broadest FPGA platform in the industry," stated Bruce Talley, vice president and general manager, design software division of Xilinx, Inc. "A significant number of our customers depend on Precision for their synthesis solution. Our collaboration and partnership with Mentor assures them that they will be able to implement their designs in the environment they are familiar with while getting superior quality of results possible when targeting the new Virtex-5 FXT family."

The Precision Synthesis product forms the centerpiece of Mentor Graphics FPGA flow -- the industry's most comprehensive vendor-independent solution for FPGA design. With advanced support for ASIC prototyping (support for DesignWare([R]) libraries, SDC constraints, gated-clock handling, etc.) plus advanced implementation and optimization techniques such as automatic mapping and inferencing of dedicated DSP and RAM blocks, the Precision Synthesis product is uniquely suited to handle today's high-end FPGAs. In addition, the Precision Synthesis product features an award-winning design analysis capability, allowing designers to cross-probe between multiple views as well as to perform interactive static timing for rapid "what-if" analyses. The Precision RTL Plus product offers breakthrough capabilities such as vendor independent physical synthesis which provides industry-leading quality of results, automatic incremental synthesis to reduce the impact of late design cycle changes, and patent-pending functionality which enables the efficient utilization of architectural blocks.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ:MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of over $875 million and employs approximately 4,350 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon, 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.> Mentor Graphics and Precision are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

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