Source: Cadence
March 25, 2008

Cadence Encounter Conformal ECO Designer Improves Logic Designers' Productivity

New EDA Offering Automates Functional Engineering Change Order (ECO) Implementation Process

Bracknell, UK, 25 March 2008 - Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS), the leader in global electronic-design innovation, today announced immediate availability of Cadence® Encounter® Conformal® ECO Designer, a new offering from the Encounter Conformal family of products which provides functional ECO analysis and ECO generation. Almost all chip designs go through engineering change orders (ECOs) to implement late-stage design modifications due to changes in design requirements or incorrect logic function. Engineering and management recognize ECOs as a time of high stress and long hours of manual work, which lead to uncertainty in schedule, cost, and functional correctness. Encounter Conformal ECO Designer addresses these challenges by bringing automation and predictability to the ECO process. It is also part of an overall Cadence ECO offering that spans from RTL design to GDS.

"Encounter Conformal ECO Designer helps us evaluate the feasibility of engineering change orders and enables us to implement functional changes to the design very late in the design cycle," said Dinraj Shetty, director of Design Engineering at Spansion. "This product frees up valuable engineering resources and significantly reduces our ECO turnaround time."

"Encounter Conformal ECO Designer brings significant productivity and predictability to the whole ECO process and gives logic designers the ability to analyze, implement, and verify ECOs in an appropriate and accurate manner," said Andy Lin, vice president of research and development for Cadence.

Encounter Conformal ECO Designer is a key part of the Encounter digital IC design platform and a component of the Cadence Logic Design Team Solution.

About Cadence
Cadence enables global electronic-design innovation and plays an essential role in the creation of today's integrated circuits and electronics. Customers use Cadence® software and hardware, methodologies, and services to design and verify advanced semiconductors, consumer electronics, networking and telecommunications equipment, and computer systems. Cadence reported 2007 revenues of approximately $1.6 billion, and has approximately 5,300 employees. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world to serve the global electronics industry. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.co