ATMOS Corporation Deploys Mentor Graphics Custom IC Design Tools to Develop its SoC-RAM Embedded Memory IP

WILSONVILLE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2001--Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) today announced that ATMOS Corporation, the largest independent provider of embedded DRAM intellectual property (IP), has standardized on the Mentor Graphics® integrated tool suite for custom IC design to develop ATMOS SoC-RAM(TM) high-density compiled embedded memory cores.

ATMOS chose the Mentor tool suite based on its ability to handle the tight optimization specifications and demanding netlisting requirements of the SoC-RAM architecture.

ATMOS uses Mentor Graphics custom IC design tools to help create the complex hierarchical blocks and modular arrays within SoC-RAM products. ATMOS uses several Mentor tools, including Design Architect®-IC, the schematic capture, simulation and analysis application at the front end of the Mentor Graphics custom IC design flow. ATMOS also benefits from the speed and capacity of the Mentor Graphics EldoNet(TM) product to intelligently netlist its large designs.

ATMOS leverages the Design Architect-IC ``For Frames'' and ``If and Case Frames'' features extensively in developing SoC-RAM memory cores. With the help of Design Architect-IC, ATMOS was able to develop and compile a pure logic embedded DRAM core, from start to finish, in just 11 weeks. Before implementing Design Architect-IC, similar designs took up to 18 months to complete. ``The Frames feature is a fundamental tool in the creation of embedded DRAM,'' said Mark Hileeto, Manager CAD and Methodology at ATMOS. ``We make use of `For Frames' to repeat circuitry and we use `If and Case Frames' to create multi-purpose views.''

``ATMOS can extend these efficiencies to our customers through rapid design of a flexible product,'' adds Terry Lalonde, VP Engineering Operations at ATMOS. ``Based on this, we have implemented the Mentor tool suite for 0.18, 0.15 and 0.13um technologies for various foundries.''

The ``For Frames'' feature saves disk space and dramatically reduces design entry time by repeating circuitry defined inside a rectangular area. For example, rather than hand-placing 1024 instances of a highly repetitive decoder circuit, Design Architect-IC allows ATMOS designers to place a single instance and use ``For Frames'' to specify 1024 instantiations of the circuit, saving countless hours of input time.

The ``If and Case Frames'' feature helps reduce design time and eliminates errors by representing multiple views of an electrical block on the same schematic. This feature gives designers the ability to assign dual purposes to single elements. For example, a designer placing a parasitic capacitor can use an ``If Frame'' to make it active for an Eldo simulation, and inactive for running layout vs. schematic.

ATMOS also uses the Mentor Graphics EldoNet netlister, which efficiently extracts design data from the Design Architect-IC database. Instead of expanding the entire design in memory, EldoNet limits the duplication of data stored in memory. This saves time in design traversal, while decreasing memory usage and swap space.

``EldoNet is the only netlister that can handle the size, sophistication and imposed hierarchical limitations of the ATMOS SoC-RAM macrocells while completing the netlist quickly,'' said Jue-Hsien Chern, vice president and general manager for Mentor's Deep Submicron division. ``The combination of Design Architect-IC and EldoNet is a perfect example of how, using Mentor's custom IC design flow, companies like ATMOS can work more efficiently than they could patching together point tools from multiple vendors.''

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About ATMOS

ATMOS is a semiconductor memory company that focuses on creating high-density embedded memory solutions for system-on-a-chip (SoC) applications. ATMOS offers silicon-proven memory cores to customers in the networking, wireless, graphics and imaging industries that require very large on-chip memory.

ATMOS designs, tests, licenses and supports SoC-RAM(TM), a compiled, embedded memory architecture with many times the flexibility, density and speed of alternative solutions.

For more information visit www.atmoscorp.com or call toll-free 866/EMB-DRAM.

About Mentor Graphics Corporation

Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) 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 2,975 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Ore. 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Mentor Graphics and Design Architect are registered trademarks and EldoNet is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other product or company names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact:
     Mentor Graphics
     Matthew Franklin, 503/685-1077
     matthew_franklin@mentor.com
     or
     Benjamin Group/BSMG
     Kara Lakkees, 503/283-8800
     kara_lakkees@benjamingroup.com
     or
     ATMOS Corporation
     Maria Ford, 613/831-5005 x205
     mford@atmoscorp.com