SAN JOSE, Calif., June 4, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Magma(r) Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of semiconductor design software, today announced that MediaTek, the world's leading digital media solution provider based in Taiwan, is designing a complex 9-block chipset that will tapeout soon using Talus(tm) ACC and Talus Vortex IC implementation software. Leveraging the Magma system's automated floorplan synthesis and distributed block implementation, MediaTek was able to shorten the development schedule and reduce runtime by designing all blocks in parallel
MediaTek operates in a very competitive market, requiring fast turnaround in their design cycles. With the complexity of their designs increasing, the company realized it would have to make some changes to its design flow going forward and so evaluated the Magma system. Their evaluation showed that they could quickly achieve design closure and the MediaTek designers were very impressed with the turnaround time enabled by Talus.
"MediaTek's impressive product line and exacting needs makes it a good fit for Magma's capabilities," said Kam Kittrell, general manager of Magma's Design Implementation Business Unit. "We are pleased to be working with a leader in the digital media market."
Automation Key to Meeting Time-to-Market Requirements
With time-to-market pressures and new challenges at nanometer design nodes, designers require higher levels of automation and faster run times. Talus' floorplan synthesis automation and distributed block implementation were key to MediaTek's ability to reduce the design cycle of this chip while increasing functionality and quality of results. Talus enabled MediaTek to quickly create new and incremental floorplans with every major netlist change and feed information between engineers to optimize the design. The tool's partitioning capability was used to determine physical partitions and the front-end engineer mapped logical partitions to physical partitions. Talus' shaping technology laid out the floorplan, using Relative Floorplan Constraints, which enable designers to retain the floorplan with minimal changes from one iteration to the next, rather than starting all over. The congestion-aware macro placer performed automatic macro placement which could be used without any significant manual input. MediaTek's manual effort was further reduced by Talus' automated power planning. In addition, the tool automatically created pins and feedthroughs for the chip in the floorplan and produced budgets for partitions distributed automatically for quick feedback.
About Magma
Magma's software for integrated circuit (IC) design is recognized as embodying the best in semiconductor technology, enabling the world's top chip companies to "Design Ahead of the Curve." Magma provides EDA software for IC implementation, analysis, physical verification and characterization. Magma products are used by the world's leading engineers to create complex, high-performance ICs for consumer electronics, mobile communications, computing and networking applications, while at the same time reducing design time and costs. Magma is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices around the world. Magma's stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.
Magma is a registered trademark, and "Design Ahead of the Curve" and Talus are trademarks of Magma Design Automation. All other product and company names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements about the features and benefits of Magma's software are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to Magma's ability to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and Magma's products abilities to produce desired results. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in Magma's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Magma undertakes no additional obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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