Mentor Graphics Introduces C-Bridge for Seamless to Enable Early Hardware Prototyping and Verification Acceleration

WILSONVILLE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2002--Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT - news) today announced C-Bridge(TM) technology, an extension to its market-leading Seamless® co-verification environment.

C-Bridge promotes high-level modeling and improves the verification performance of embedded designs by incorporating C and C++ hardware descriptions, test benches and protocol models into Seamless co-verification sessions. C-Bridge encourages architectural exploration through co-verification of hardware and software early in the embedded design process, before key design blocks are realized in RTL. Seamless with C-Bridge supports mixed C, C++ and HDL design environments.

"The design environment for hardware prototyping is changing," said Serge Leef, general manager of the System-on-Chip Verification Division at Mentor Graphics. "Increasingly, higher-level languages, such as C and C++, are used to define complex hardware. Inclusion of these models into a verification environment, where they can efficiently interact with existing RTL and embedded software, is a critical issue for design success. C-Bridge technology extends the use of Seamless in the design flow, providing explicit support for system prototyping, architectural exploration and early system verification."

Early Design Prototype Simulation with C Hardware models

Functions modeled at higher levels of abstraction enable designers to rapidly create flexible prototypes that encapsulate desired functionality and performance attributes. Seamless with C-Bridge enables hardware and test-related constructs to be described in C language to be incorporated smoothly into a design composed of C and RTL blocks. C-Bridge does not impose any particular restrictions on the C code which enables the use of any appropriate language constructs and re-use of pre-existing C models. Additionally, C-Bridge supports Open SystemC(TM).

Accelerated HW/SW Co-Verification By Mixing C and RTL

Simulating embedded systems containing large RTL designs can be a slow process. A faster logic simulation enables more software to be exercised against the design. When using C-Bridge to increase the power of Seamless optimizations, areas of the RTL design not critical to the current focus of the verification, such as an MPEG decoder or USB port, can be modeled in C and still be part of the verification. As the target of the verification changes, the mixture of RTL and C can change to focus the logic simulator on the current area of interest. This minimizes the processing demands on the logic simulator.

Pricing and Availability

Seamless with C-Bridge will be available in late March 2002 as part of the Seamless 4.3 release. Pricing of Seamless with C-Bridge starts at $60,000. All current Seamless Processor Support Packages for processors and DSPs are supported by Seamless C-Bridge. Seamless C-Bridge will be available on Solaris, HP/UX and Linux platforms. For more information, or to register for free Seamless workshops and SoC verification seminars, visit our web site at www.mentor.com/seamless.

About Seamless

Combining the best in embedded software development tools with logic simulation, the Mentor Graphics® Seamless co-verification environment delivers high performance co-verification months before a hardware prototype can be built. The Seamless environment enables software and hardware development to be carried out in parallel removing the software from the critical path, and reducing the risk of hardware prototype iterations resulting from integration errors. User-controlled optimizations boost performance by isolating the logic simulator from software-intensive operations such as RTOS initialization, block memory transfers, and algorithmic routines. Seamless with C-Bridge further boosts performance through incorporation of C hardware descriptions. Seamless supports all popular logic simulators and software development environments, including the Model Technology® ModelSim® environment.

About Mentor Graphics Corporation

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT - news) 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 more than $600 million and employs approximately 3,100 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Mentor Graphics, Model Technology, ModelSim and Seamless are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. C-Bridge and Co-Verification Environment are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. Open SystemC is a registered trademark of Open SystemC Initiative. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.