Innoveda Issues Tool Challenge

Electronic News, July 2, 2001

Innoveda Inc. is beefing up its challenge to Mentor Graphics Corp.'s Seamless tool with its own V-CPU co-verification tool. The tools do the same job, but currently, Mentor's tool is the market leader in this small but significant EDA market segment.

Marlborough, Mass.-based Innoveda (nasdaq: INOV) last week said it is adding to its V-CPU arsenal with a processor support package for the IBM PowerPC 440 core. The package will be linked with VxSim, the prototyping and simulation tool from Wind River Systems Inc. (nasdaq:WIND) of Alameda, Calif.

Through an agreement with Endeavor Intertech of Hillsboro, Ore., Innoveda will integrate Endeavor's PowerPC440 bus-interface models with V-CPU. The agreement also applies to the IBM PowerPC 405 core. The package should be available this month, priced at $10,000 in the United States.

Mentor Graphics (nasdaq: MENT) of Wilsonville, Ore., holds the majority of hardware/software co-verification engineering seats, according to market researcher Gartner Dataquest, based in San Jose. But as the engineering practice of starting software development using microprocessor simulations -- as opposed to waiting for silicon to put on a prototype board -- becomes more mainstream, the market is expanding, giving Innoveda room for entry.