Axis rounds up verification vendors for integration program

Axis rounds up verification vendors for integration program
By Michael Santarini, EE Times
August 20, 2001 (4:10 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010820S0057

SAN MATEO, Calif. — Axis Systems Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has launched a partnership program that will integrate system-on-chip (SoC) verification tools from 10 leading verification tool vendors.

The FastLink program is intended to streamline SoC verification, which consumes an average of 70 to 75 percent of today's total SoC design cycle time, according to Ukari Chin, director of marketing at Axis, an emulation and acceleration vendor.

"Engineers want to use best-in-class point tools rather than get all their tools from one vendor," said Chin. "But the verification flow is getting more and more complicated and there are a number of tools that must work together seamlessly to ensure verification runs smoothly."

Vendors providing simulation and testbench technologies for the flow include Cadence Design Systems Inc., Co-Design Automation Inc., Forte Design Systems Inc. and Verisity Design Inc.

Formal verification companies signed on to the program include 0-In Design Automation Inc. and Verplex Systems Inc. Innoveda Inc. will link its co-verification tool to the flow, and Novas Software Inc. will link its debugging technology. Denali Software Inc. will provide links to its memory-modeling and verification tools, and Platform Computing Inc. will hook up its resource-management technology to help users schedule verification runs using tools in the FastLink flow.

Susan Wong, director of strategic relations at Axis, said that unlike other stages of the design cycle, the various tools that make up a verification flow must often run simultaneously.

To ensure that FastLink delivers interoperability, Axis is offering verification tool vendors that join the FastLink program access to Axis' Xsim software simulator, which has a direct connection to Axis' RCC (reconfigurable computing) engines.

This connection makes it easy to integrate, test and enhance the interoperability of Axis tools and verify that third-party tools work properly with Axis' RCC engines, Chin said.

Axis is offering two levels of FastLink membership. The first level is open to all EDA, intellectual-property and embedded-tool vendors wishing to engage in joint marketing with Axis. The second level is offered only to verification tool companies, and provides them with a license to Xsim for $1,000 per quarter.

Axis is in the process of signing other vendors on to the program, Chin said.