nSys releases PCI EXPRESS verification intellectual property based on openvera assertions

PCI Express Verification IP Leverages OpenVera Assertions and OpenVera Languages

SAN JOSE , Calif., December 9, 2002 – Netsys Software Pvt. Ltd. (nSys), a solution provider for emerging standards, today announced the availability of PCI Express verification IP based on OpenVera™ Assertions (OVA) and OpenVera verification languages. The nSys PCI Express verification IP significantly reduces the verification time for complex system-on-chip (SoC) designs that are using the PCI Express protocol in market segments, such as desktop, mobile computing, enterprise and standard servers, as well as embedded and communications devices.

"Our PCI Express verification IP enables customers to easily create sophisticated verification environments that simulate real world applications of PCI Express devices," said Atul Bhatia, director at nSys. "As a result, customers can test the entire functionality of their PCI Express interfaces without having to write a single line of code."

Netsys also announced the availability of three additional verification IPs based on OpenVera and OVA: UART, Parallel 1284 and PCMCIA. These newly announced verification IP, together with the UART and IEEE 1284 announced in April 2002, provide customers a comprehensive OpenVera verification IP solution for SoCs targeted for the server and PC markets. The nSys family of verification IP provides a common interface for the immediate creation of verification environments using multiple IP.

"OpenVera verification IP solutions enable verification engineers to focus on verifying their designs rather than investing lots of time setting up sophisticated verification environments said James Watts, OpenVera program manager at Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) "With these solutions, design and verification engineers can generate appropriate test scenarios, as well as check for protocol compliance of their SoCs, reducing effort in creating and debugging the test environment."

The PCI Express OpenVera verification IP solutions from nSys offer a rich set of features, including:

• Support for all types of PCI Express verification devices: root complex (RC), endpoints, switch, PCI Express-PCI Bridge
• Tests entire functionality of an interface without writing a single line of code
• Support for multiple instantiation in different modes to create complex verification environment
• Full support of automatic random and directed testing
• Generating and driving bus traffic as a PCI Express master and responding transactions as a PCI Express target
• Supports all transaction layer, data link layer and physical layer functionality as defined in PCI Express specifications version 1.0
• Implements PCI Express configuration space as defined for end points and express extended capabilities configuration space registers
• Implements PCI Express advanced error reporting capabilities register in configuration space
• Fully automated flow control
• Implements PCI Express virtual channel capabilities register
• Support for multiple virtual channels
• Support for Verilog as well as VHDL implementations
• Based upon the OpenVera layered model architecture guidelines
• Consistency of interface, installation, operation and documentation across nSys family of OpenVera verification IP
• Extensive support for functional coverage such as closed loop testing, cross coverage based on all the variables parameters and accumulated coverage across multiple stimulation runs

For a complete listing of features and pricing of the nSys' PCI Express, UART, Parallel 1284 and PCMCIA verification IP offerings, visit the nSys web site at http://www.nsysinc.com/products.html

Availability
The OV and OVA verification IP offerings from nSys are available immediately. nSys OpenVera verification IP solutions ship with full documentation and example configurations for SoC verification environments. nSys also offers verification consulting services for OpenVera users.

About OpenVera and OpenVera Assertions
OpenVera is an open source hardware verification language developed to meet the unique requirements of functional verification. OpenVera Assertions (OVA) is a high-level language that contains powerful declarative constructs for accurately capturing design specification and is useful in both dynamic and formal verification environments. With these languages, design and verification engineers describe the target application environment, including complex protocols and data objects, at a high level of abstraction, which significantly improves productivity, readability and reusability. For more information on OpenVera and OVA, visit www.open-vera.com.

About nSys
nSys provides flexible solutions to reduce time-to-market for its customers by addressing their verification needs for SoC development. By leveraging its vast experience in standards-based product development, the nSys team creates verification solutions that solve the most challenging functional verification problems in the world. The nSys solution is in the form of services based on specialized knowledge of standards and tools or services backed by verification IP developed by nSys. To learn more, visit http://www.nsysinc.com.

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Synopsys is a registered trademark of Synopsys, Inc. OpenVera is a trademark of Synopsys, Inc.  All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.