Mentor Graphics Precision Synthesis Combined with Xilinx SmartGuide Technology Dramatically Reduces Design Time
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Dillon Engineering finds design cycle savings of 70% in recent tests
WILSONVILLE, Ore., December 11, 2007 - Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced that its Precision® Synthesis solution, combined with Xilinx® SmartGuide(TM) technology, results in significant design time savings. Test results conducted jointly over the past twelve months using Mentor's Precision Synthesis tool and the Xilinx SmartGuide functionality show that users saved an average of 40% in mapping and place-and-route (P&R) time. The combined solution preserves unchanged portions of the design when making small changes, reducing overall design iteration time. Tests performed at Xilinx show that over 97% of the components went unchanged and quality of results (QoR) was maintained in the process. These results have also been verified by mutual customers.
"The Precision Synthesis flow, followed by Xilinx' SmartGuide technology, is a great time-saver and minimizes the impact of late-cycle design changes," said Tom Dillon, president of Dillon Engineering, Inc. "Modern designs usually require incremental changes, so this new flow typically saves us more than 70% of overall iteration time while retaining the timing performance of the design and keeping most of the instances and nets unchanged."
"Industry surveys continue to highlight timing closure as the number one issue for FPGA designers. The collaboration between Xilinx and Mentor delivers an integrated solution covering synthesis, mapping, and place-and-route," stated Steve Lass, senior director, design software division of Xilinx. "Xilinx SmartGuide technology, combined with the Precision Synthesis solution, is slashing FPGA design implementation time for designers as well as eliminating surprises in timing late in the design cycle."
This functionality is available in all products in the Precision Synthesis family including the recently announced Precision RTL Plus solution. (see "Mentor Graphics Announces Precision RTL Plus for FPGA Synthesis," Sept. 24, 2007).
"Our mutual customers will benefit from our incremental synthesis capability combined with Xilinx' SmartGuide," said Daniel Platzker, product line director, Mentor Graphics Design Creation and Synthesis Division. "This combined solution helps designers of state-of-the-art FPGAs, such as the Virtex-5 family, save time in the overall design process."
Mentor's incremental synthesis is an automatic, "push-button" technology that quickly and predictably optimizes the process of incremental design changes. Combining incremental synthesis with incremental place and route can result in shaving days off current design cycles by localizing the impact of design changes.
Precision Synthesis: The Centerpiece of Mentor Graphics FPGA Flow
The Precision Synthesis tool forms the centerpiece of Mentor Graphics FPGA flow - the industry's most comprehensive vendor-independent solution for FPGA design. It's the only synthesis tool which offers true push-button multi-vendor physical synthesis for achieving the best quality of results. With comprehensive language support, including SystemVerilog, advanced ASIC prototyping flow and automatic incremental synthesis, The Precision Synthesis tool is uniquely suited to handle today's high-end FPGAs. The Precision Synthesis tool features award-winning design analysis capability, allowing designers to cross-probe between multiple views as well as perform interactive static timing "what-if" analyses. The Precision Synthesis tool reduces design iterations, and enables faster, more predictable completion of designs, while delivering high quality of results.
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 $825 million and employs approximately 4,300 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com/.
For more information, please contact:
Larry Toda
Mentor Graphics
503.685.1664
larry_toda@mentor.com
Suzanne Graham
Mentor Graphics
503.685.7789
suzanne_graham@mentor.com
