Verisity Announces E Reuse Methodology 'eRM' for Reusable, High-quality, Verification Component Development; eRM Boosts Productivity and Ensures Interoperability for All eVCs

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sep 9, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Verisity Ltd. (Nasdaq:VRST), the leading provider of functional verification automation, today announced a new methodology for developing reusable verification components. Through the e Reuse Methodology (eRM(TM)), the company is promoting best practices among e Verification Component (eVC(TM)) developers by providing comprehensive guidelines and best-known methods for eVC development.

eRM provides dramatic functional verification productivity gains, most notably for advanced ASICs, SoCs and processors. eRM is a complete reuse methodology that codifies the best practices for eVC development. eRM delivers a common eVC usage model, and ensures that all eRM compliant eVCs will interoperate seamlessly regardless of origin. In addition, new eRM technology in Specman Elite(TM), Verisity's flagship testbench automation tool, increases the power of eRM compliant eVCs to generate and synchronize complex multi-transaction scenarios.

"With verification consuming 60-80% of the manpower on complex chip projects, improving verification productivity is an economic necessity," said Moshe Gavrielov, Verisity CEO. "Verification reuse directly addresses higher productivity, increased chip quality and overall verification investment. The fact that over 70 eVCs have been created in just two years is a testament to the serious need for verification reuse. eRM is the breakthrough technology required to create reusable verification environments and to ensure that all verification components effectively interoperate."

Verification Reuse Challenges

Today's complex chips commonly incorporate many different protocols, interfaces and processors. Assembling appropriate verification environments requires efficient integration of reusable, plug-and-play verification components. Achieving reusability requires that all components be built and packaged uniformly. Reusability becomes even more challenging when design teams all over the world create verification components that need to fit together seamlessly. Every aspect of the component, including basic naming conventions and coding styles, debug message conventions, user interfaces, and interactions between components must be standardized in order to assure interoperability.

"As a world leader in the development and licensing of reusable Platform IP, ARM faces many complex verification challenges," stated Ian Thornton, PrimeXsys product manager, ARM. "Verification reuse is essential for our own productivity and to reduce time-to-market for our PrimeXsys(TM) Platform licensees. The capabilities introduced in Verisity's eRM make a significant contribution to meeting these requirements by enabling a framework for reuse. For this reason we developed our PrimeXsys verification methodology to be eRM-compatible."

Complete Verification Reuse Methodology

eRM delivers the best known methods for developing eVCs through a common user model and enhanced Specman Elite functionality. eRM includes three major elements:

• Best practices for eVC development -- Together with its customers and partners, Veristy has codified standards to promote eVC consistency, reusability and interoperability. These standards relate to eVC architecture, naming, coding, installation, configuration, file partitioning, and packaging.

• New Specman Elite functionality -- Recent enhancements in Specman Elite allow eRM compliant eVCs to generate and synchronize complex multi-transaction scenarios using the new Sequences feature. Rather than generate each item atomically, test developers can now easily generate scenarios of multiple transactions and control them over time. Sequences also ensure that test scenarios are created and used consistently. New visualization tools and unified message handling make the debugging process consistent and simpler for eVC integrators and test writers.

• Knowledge transfer -- Verisity provides customers and eVC developers with an eRM Advanced Training course, three "Golden eVCs" (ideal coding examples), and extensive documentation. Verisity also provides developers templates for eVC user guides and training classes. These templates ensure that eVC users are presented information in a uniform manner. eRM Compliance

To ensure that eVCs are truly eRM compliant, Verisity provides an eRM checklist. The checklist details the essential elements developers must deliver to achieve eRM compliance. eRM compliant eVCs must include the eRM checklist report within the eVC itself. This enables users to assess each eVC's ability to interoperate within their verification environment. eRM checklist reports will also be posted in the eVC Store, an on-line listings of eVCs developed by Verisity and its partners.

Customers and Verification Alliance Partners Embrace eRM

Verisity's customers and partners are now proliferating eRM within their organizations. Ten eRM compliant eVCs have already been developed and many more are in development by customers, Verisity, and Verification Alliance(TM) partners throughout the world.

"Agere frequently verifies multi-million gate devices," said Don Friedberg, director of design methodologies at Agere Systems. "Agere has invested in creating reusable verification components (eVCs) to optimize our efficiency. This is proving to be a winning strategy among our design teams. We are extremely pleased that Verisity is delivering eRM to ensure that all eVCs will seamlessly plug-and-play. We believe this is important not only for the eVCs developed within Agere Systems, but for eVCs developed by members of Verisity's Verification Alliance."

Verisity's Verification Alliance partners are also rapidly adopting eRM practices. eInfochips, a leading commercial eVC provider based in Milpitas, California, immediately saw the benefits of eRM.

"eRM breaks through the barriers that have traditionally stalled reuse initiatives and simplifies our job as eVC developers," stated Nilesh Ranpura, project manager at eInfochips. "eRM's cookbook approach to writing and packaging e code enables all our developers to create consistent, high-quality eVCs. This is a big win for eVC users."

Pricing and Availability

eRM is provided at no charge to Specman Elite customers. Currently in use by qualified customers and partners, eRM will be available to all Verisity customers in November 2002. The eRM Advanced Training course is available immediately. Through the end of 2002, eRM Advanced Training will be provided at no charge to qualified eVC developers.

About Verisity

Verisity is the leading provider of proprietary technologies and software products used to efficiently verify designs of electronic systems and complex integrated circuits that are essential to high growth segments of the electronics industry. Verisity's products simplify the process of detecting flaws in these designs, enabling customers to deliver higher quality products, accelerate time-to-market and reduce overall product development costs.

Verisity Design, Inc.'s principal executive offices are located in Mountain View, Calif. The Company's principal research and development offices are located in Rosh Ha'ain, Israel. For more information, see Verisity's web site at www.verisity.com.

Verisity is a registered trademark of Verisity Design, Inc. eVCs, Specman Elite and Verification Alliance are trademarks of Verisity Design, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of the respected owners and should be treated as such.