Forte Design Systems Becomes First High-Level Synthesis Software Provider to Support IEEE 1666-2011 SystemC

Latest Version of Cynthesizer Enables Improved Interoperability Between Models Used for Implementation, System Modeling, Hardware/Software Co-Design

SAN JOSE, CALIF. -- February 12, 2013 -- Forte Design Systems™ the #1 provider of software products that enable design at a higher level of abstraction and improve design results, today announced its Cynthesizer™ high-level synthesis (HLS) is the first HLS software to support IEEE 1666™-2011 SystemC.

"Today's design teams need every advantage to beat market pressures," says Mike Meredith, Forte's vice president of technical marketing. "We began implementing the new SystemC language standard as soon as the language reference manual was available to ensure our users had the most up-to-date and advanced language and tools possible."

The latest version of Cynthesizer supports the new SystemC syntax for asynchronous resets. The new language support for reset semantics in SC_THREADs allows hardware designers to implement synthesizable designs using the same process construct commonly used for transaction-level system modeling. The result is improved interoperability between models used for implementation, system modeling and hardware/software co-design.

In addition to these synthesis-related benefits, use of IEEE 1666-2011 SystemC gives Cynthesizer users access to process control extensions for modeling embedded software systems, the integrated TLM-2.0 library and features for pausing and restarting simulation.

Approved by the IEEE in February 2012, the upgraded language standard adds features for high-level synthesis and high-level system modeling. The first simulation library implementation was released in open-source by the Accellera Systems Initiative in July 2012.

Forte's portfolio of HLS products will be demonstrated February 26-27 from 3:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. at DVCon 2013 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, Calif. Details about DVCon can be found at: www.dvcon.org.

Gary Smith EDA, the leading provider of market intelligence and advisory services for the global Electronic Design Automation (EDA) market, recognized Forte as the #1 provider of electronic system-level (ESL) synthesis software in late 2012. At 36%, Forte led a market segment that included three other vendors.

Availability

Cynthesizer 4.3, with support for SystemC 2.3 IEEE1666-2001, is available now.

To learn more about Forte Design Systems and Cynthesizer, visit: www.ForteDS.com

About Forte Design Systems

Forte Design Systems™ is the #1 provider of electronic system-level (ESL) synthesis software, confirmed by Gary Smith EDA, provider of market intelligence for the global Electronic Design Automation (EDA) market. Forte's software enables design at a higher level of abstraction and improves design results. Its innovative synthesis technologies and intellectual property offerings allow design teams creating complex electronic chips and systems to reduce their overall design and verification time. More than half of the top 20 worldwide semiconductor companies use Forte's products in production today for ASIC, SoC and FPGA design. Forte is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with additional offices in England, Japan, Korea and the United States. For more information, visit www.ForteDS.com.