Bluespec Targets Low-Power ESL Synthesis

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 2005--Bluespec Inc., www.bluespec.com, developer of the only ESL synthesis solution for control logic and complex datapaths in chip design, announced today it has added low-power ESL synthesis with integrated clock and power management and formal clock verification capabilities to its ESL synthesis EDA toolset. Bluespec provides ASIC and FPGA engineers with the unique capability to validate proper multiple clock domain implementations during the synthesis process rather than delaying the discovery of synchronization issues in working silicon when they are hard and expensive to correct. Bluespec will be showcasing these capabilities at DAC 2005 in Anaheim, Calif. June 13-17, 2005 at booth #432.

As SoCs continue to become larger and faster, gated clocks and multiple clock domains are increasingly used to manage power, to support multiple, varied communication interfaces, and to re-use older IP, that can demand different clock requirements. Interconnection among these different clock domains has become difficult to manage and prone to error, as most commercially available verification tools do not guarantee correct implementation to handle metastability. As a result, synchronization issues are sometimes not discovered until the chip is manufactured into silicon - adding significant delays and costs to the design of the chip. In addition, implementing and managing control logic around clock gating for power management is burdensome and contributes to design errors.

Bluespec has added integrated clock management and formal clock connectivity verification to enhance its multiple clock domain (MCD) support. Bluespec's toolset automates gated-clock implementations for power management by automatically identifying and managing interface communications between active and inactive clock domains. By incorporating clocking into its semantic model, Bluespec's toolset simplifies complex clock topology implementations and ensures that mis-connections are caught at the time of synthesis.

"We are one of the few companies addressing the increasing challenges presented by MCDs - and have taken the lead in the high-level synthesis space by delivering the first tool with integrated clock management and verification to minimize their costs," said Sathyam Pattanam, vice president of engineering at Bluespec. "Bluespec is tightly integrated with existing tools and methodologies, and, more importantly, with the complex design needs of engineers, who cannot afford to compromise in results as well as capabilities."

As a demonstration vehicle for this capability, Bluespec is showing at DAC an industry standard physical layer device (PHY) design featuring serial bit stream clock and data recovery implemented with multiple clock domains. "PHYs are tough to design. Frankly, most people are incredulous that ESL synthesis can handle a PHY," said George Harper, vice president of marketing at Bluespec. "To them we say, you'll be even more impressed when you see the speeds, the levels of logic and the tightness of the design."

About Bluespec

Bluespec Inc. manufactures an industry standards-based Electronic Design Automation (EDA) toolset that significantly raises the level of abstraction for hardware design while retaining the ability to automatically synthesize high quality RTL, without compromising speed, power or area. The toolset, the only one focused on control and complex datapaths, allows ASIC and FPGA designers to significantly reduce design time, bugs and re-spins that contribute to product delays and escalating costs. More information can be found on www.bluespec.com or by calling 781-250-2200.

Copyright 2005 Bluespec, Inc. Bluespec is a trademark of Bluespec, Inc. All other brands, products, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated.