Barcelona Design Unveils Revolutionary Analog Circuit Solution

Mitsubishi First Customer to Deploy with Working Silicon

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 8, 2002--the leading provider of synthesizable full-custom analog circuits, today announced the release of its revolutionary, silicon-proven analog synthesis solution- the Prado ™ Synthesis Platform and the first of its analog circuit engines, the Miro ™ Class Clocking Engine. With flexible functionality and lightning fast time-to-market, customers can now implement complex, optimized analog and mixed-signal functions in a matter of minutes and hours instead of months.

Barcelona's product architecture combines synthesizable circuit engines with a powerful design technology, the Prado Synthesis Platform. Each engine provides designers with function, topology and process-specific models that enable accurate and hyper-fast synthesis of custom analog circuits. When plugged into the Prado Synthesis Platform the engines allow the custom optimal design of the function, as well as high-performance placement and routing of the resultant circuit.

"Barcelona provides a radically new alternative for implementing analog circuits " says Thomas Heydler, CEO at Barcelona Design. "We are thrilled to have Mitsubishi as a customer and proud that our technology has been validated by one of the world's leading electronics manufacturers."

Barcelona has proven its solution with working silicon to customers like Mitsubishi, who have welcomed their innovative solution. "After testing Barcelona's synthesizable full-custom analog circuits for ourselves, it is clear their approach to analog circuit offers unprecedented speed and flexibility," Yasuyuki Nakamura, Assistant Manager, LSI Graphics Engineering at Mitsubishi. &quotGiven our extensive line of semiconductor products, time-to-market is always a pressure. We are looking forward to using Barcelona Design's synthesizable analog circuits for a wide range of applications."

Barcelona Design Breaks the Bottleneck

The semiconductor industry is experiencing an analog explosion. Most of today's electronics applications, from mobile phones to optical networks, require not only digital transistors but also analog functionality. However, until now analog design challenges represented a huge bottleneck in the process of achieving optimal analog functions. To compete in today's marketplace, systems designers must be able to quickly and efficiently synthesize digital and analog function on a single chip. Whereas flexible digital IP has been available for years, customers seeking optimal analog IP have faced the unattractive choice of "one size fits all" off the shelf IP, or design project taking months. Barcelona Design's products are breaking this bottleneck and allowing for a true custom design at a much faster pace than was previously possible.

The Prado Synthesis Platform features:

• A high-powered solver that can handle millions of equations and constraints in a matter of hours
• Scalability to accommodate multiple engines
• High performance Router
• Intuitive flow-based user interface

The Miro Class CGS18T PLL Engine Product Structure features:

• Fast, accurate and optimal analog circuit implementation
• TSMC 0.18um CMOS process
• Clock generation/clock synchronization functions and topology
• PLL specifications of up to 2 GHz frequency and jitter as low as 5ps

Barcelona Design licenses its synthesis platform and engines on an annual subscription basis. Additionally, there is a one-time license fee for each unique design instance produced by the platform and engine.

About Barcelona Design, Inc

Barcelona Design is the leading supplier of synthesizable full-custom analog circuits, offering unique semiconductor intellectual property complemented by powerful design technology. Barcelona was founded in 1999 by CTO Dr. Mar Hershenson and Stanford University professor Dr. Stephen Boyd as a result of their research on the application of convex optimization mathematics to analog circuit design. The firm's analog circuit solution enables electronics companies to implement complex intellectual property (IP) instances radically faster than ever before. The company has proven its technology with working silicon, and has demonstrated market acceptance of its innovative approach by winning key customers. Barcelona has secured financing from leading venture capitalists including, Crosslink Capital, Sequoia Capital and Foundation Capital. The firm is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA. For more information please visit www.barcelonadesign.com.www.barcelonadesign.com.

All trademarks referred are the property of Barcelona Design or their respective owners.

For more information, contact:
 

Luciana Guarnieri Barcelona Design, Inc. 408-245-2442 x 214 luciana@barcelonadesign.com

Shilpa Mysoor Switzer Communications 415 -945- 7077  shilpa@switz.com