Aristo Signs Second Graphics Design Company Gigapixel Adopts IC Wizard for Block-based Design

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Cedric Iwashina
Aristo Technology, Inc.
408-342-9080 ext. 435
cedric@aristotech.com

Lauren Sarno
LPR
650-363-0142
lauren@leepr.com

Aristo Signs Second Graphics Design Company Gigapixel Adopts IC Wizard for Block-based Design

CUPERTINO, Calif., --November 21, 1999-- Aristo Technology, Inc., a leader in block-based design planning and assembly, today announced that Gigapixel Corporation, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., a leading provider of soft graphics IP cores, will adopt IC Wizard for automated timing-driven block-based design of its multi- million gate designs. Gigapixel's design team will use IC Wizard to accelerate the implementation of soft RTL blocks into test chips for validation purposes.

This announcement closely follows Aristo's announcement last month of a technology partnership with ATI, the world's largest supplier of 3D graphics accelerators.

According to George Haber, President and CEO of Gigapixel'. "After we reviewed other approaches, it became clear that IC Wizard will save Gigapixel weeks of design time by automating our block-based design implementation, particularly our timing-driven block placement requirements. Using IC Wizard improves our engineering productivity and moves us toward single-pass timing convergence. Additionally, IC Wizard plugs into our existing Cadence and Synopsys design environment. Using IC Wizard we are able to:

Eliminate expensive floorplan iterations
Achieve early chip-level parasitics estimation
Reduce the time from last logic change to tape-out to mere hours rather than weeks, and Achieve scalability by enabling concurrently designed blocks."

"The complexity of graphics chips in terms of gate count and functionality causes great difficulties in managing and predicting design schedules," said Jacob Greidinger, CTO of Aristo. "We are finding that IC Wizard is increasingly being used to solve this design convergence problem."

About IC Wizard
IC Wizard's design planning and assembly tools accelerate design convergence and increase design productivity through a highly automated block-based, or "divide and conquer," approach. IC Wizard automatically generates multiple design plan alternatives that meet constraints for ti ming, area, routability, and power in days as compared to the months it typically takes using traditional methodologies. The tool can be used during the architectural, RTL, structural, and physical design stages, and plugs into existing design flows, so customers can use it for their immediate design needs and preserve their investment in existing tools.

About Gigapixel
Founded in 1997, GigaPixel Inc. designs, develops and markets high-performance 3D architectures and related technology. GigaPixel's 3D Cores are targeted at multiple markets including Game Consoles, Set Top Boxes, Workstations and PC based Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Linux systems. Additional information about GigaPixel Technology and its products can be found on the Web at http://www.gigapixel.com.

About Aristo
Aristo Technology, Inc. develops and markets automated block-based design planning and assembly tools for complex ICs and systems -on a chip (SOC). The company's IC Wizard products are targeted to leading-edge consumer, computer, and communications products that perform complex or performance-sensitive operations, and which employ large numbers of physical blocks and utilize semiconductor processes of 0.25 micron and below. Aristo is a partner in the Cadence Design Systems' (NYSE: CDN - news) Connections and Synopsys' (NASDAQ: SNPS - news) in-Sync programs. Aristo is privately held, funded by USVP, ITV, LVP and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC - news). For more information about Aristo, please visit our Web site http://www.aristotech.com.

IC Wizard is a trademark of Aristo Technology, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.