Amphion Selects Synplicity Synthesis for FPGA Intellectual Property Development

BELFAST, N. Ireland & SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2001--Amphion Semiconductor Ltd., the leading provider of semiconductor intellectual-property for multimedia, data security, wireless and broadband communications, and Synplicity Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP - news), a leading supplier of software for the design and verification of semiconductors, today announced Amphion has chosen Synplicity's Synplify Pro® software as the tool-of-choice to develop intellectual property (IP) cores specifically targeted for FPGA applications. The two companies will cooperate to define and produce an optimized design flow to support customers using Amphion's application-specific cores for FPGAs. The companies also announced that Amphion has enrolled in Synplicity's Strategic Access Program as a preferred IP partner.

"At a time when the programmable logic design community is increasingly turning to hardware accelerator IP in order to meet system performance requirements, it is vital that the design flow be optimized to provide the best quality of results," commented Steve Farson, vice president of engineering at Amphion. "We have been impressed with the quality of results we've received using Synplicity's Synplify Pro software. Inserting this software into our development process will help strengthen Amphion's delivery of the world-class cores our customers depend on."

Andy Haines, vice president of marketing at Synplicity, added, "More and more, our customers are using IP cores to take advantage of the high-density FPGA devices that have been emerging over the past few years. We are pleased that Amphion has chosen our Synplify Pro product for its IP development. This new partnership is consistent with our strategy to provide synthesis technology at both the development and implementation stages of IP use. We believe the combination of our two technologies will enable our mutual customers to achieve high-performance results for their FPGA designs."

Under terms of this joint marketing and development agreement, Amphion will provide its customers with Synplicity Synthesis Constraints for soft (RTL) IP cores and static timing models in Synplicity's TCL format for firm (gate-level) IP cores. Using these optimized constraints and timing models with the Synplify Pro software, customers should be able to quickly and easily implement Amphion cores into FPGAs from leading vendors.

Synplicity's Strategic Access Partner Program for IP Vendors

Through its Strategic Access Partner Program, Synplicity works very closely with vendors who generate intellectual property designs for programmable logic to ensure compatibility and verification of Synplicity's synthesis timing model with IP. These close partnerships allow users of the Synplify® solution to obtain much better optimized designs when instantiating IP from these vendors for larger scale programmable logic designs and provides users of the Synplify software with a broad range of better qualified IP.

About Synplicity

Synplicity Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP - news) is a leading provider of software products that enable the rapid and effective design and verification of semiconductors used in next-generation communications, computer, consumer and military/aerospace electronics systems. The company leverages its innovative logic synthesis, physical synthesis and verification software solutions to improve performance and shorten development time for complex programmable logic devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and system-on-chip (SoC) integrated circuits. Recognizing the company's industry-leading position, Dataquest named Synplicity as the No. 1 provider of PLD synthesis tools in 2000 with 45 percent market share. Synplicity's fast, easy-to-use products offer high quality of results, support industry-standard design languages (VHDL and Verilog) and run on popular platforms. As of September 30, 2001, Synplicity employed 265 people in its 16 facilities worldwide. Synplicity is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information on Synplicity, visit: http://www.synplicity.com.

About Amphion

Amphion is the leading supplier of application-specific cores for IP-based System-on-a-Chip (SoC) integrated circuit designs for multimedia, data security, wireless and broadband communications. Amphion delivers high-performance solutions for video and image compression, advanced encryption, and speech and channel coding with a comprehensive range of silicon-optimized products. Using proprietary techniques for the direct-mapping of processing functions and algorithms into hardware, Amphion develops and licenses semiconductor intellectual-property (SIP) cores that are close to optimal in terms of performance and power dissipation -- typically 1000x better than competing solutions. Amphion cores operate standalone, or by direct interface to industry-standard RISC and DSP processors, and can be easily migrated through different generations of fabrication technology, thus preserving engineering investments in SoC design. Amphion is a privately-held company with corporate headquarters and engineering in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK and worldwide sales and marketing headquarters in San Jose, California, USA. Amphion was formerly known as Integrated Silicon Systems Ltd, or ISS. For more information, visit http://www.amphion.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

The joint development efforts with third parties as described in this press release remain at the sole discretion of Synplicity, Inc. and no warranty is made as to whether the intended effects or success of joint development efforts with third parties will occur as described or forecast in the press release.

Note to Editors: Synplicity, Synplify Pro and Synplify are registered trademarks of Synplicity, Inc. Amphion, The Amphion logo, and "Virtual Components for the Converging World" are trademarks of Amphion Semiconductor Ltd. All other brand names or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Synplicity tools and technical support supplied to Amphion by ALT Technologies, (Basingstoke, Hampshire) UK.