Cadence, Mentor Graphics and Breker Announce Collaborative Technology Contribution to Accellera Portable Stimulus Working Group

Contribution to help accelerate development of standard that meets both vertical and horizontal stimulus and test reuse requirements

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 08, 2015 – 

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS), Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) and Breker Verification Systems today announced that the three companies have collaborated on a technology contribution to the Accellera Portable Stimulus Working Group. The contribution leverages the combined experience of the three companies in providing portable test and stimulus solutions, and is intended to assist the Accellera Portable Stimulus Working Group in defining a system-on-chip (SoC) verification standard that offers both vertical (intellectual property to SoC) and horizontal (simulation to post-silicon) reuse of stimulus and test.

The collaborative contribution includes:

• A concise specification language for use-cases that allows high level abstraction of stimulus and tests, including coverage and results checking
• Semantics to allow generation of tests by automation tools in a variety of languages and tool environments with consistent behavior across multiple implementations from simulation through emulation to FPGA and post-silicon
• A model-based approach supporting graph-based descriptions of stimulus and test scenarios
• A library of predefined utility functions plus support for user-defined functions helpful when generating system-level portable stimulus and tests

For more information on the Portable Stimulus Working Group, visit http://www.accellera.org/activities/working-groups/portable-stimulus

"When we initiated the portable stimulus project within Accellera and offered technology we have in use today, we sought to collaborate with other leading vendors and their technologies to create a standard that would enjoy broad and rapid adoption," stated John Lenyo, vice president and general manager, Design Verification Technology Division at Mentor Graphics. "We are pleased to see this early collaborative effort to seed the Accellera Portable Stimulus Working Group result in a joint contribution that pulls these technologies together to help accelerate availability of a completed standard."

"Cadence believes portable stimulus will be the hallmark for the next generation of verification automation," said Ziv Binyamini, corporate vice president, research and development, Advanced Verification Solutions at Cadence. "Much like our collaboration on OVM and UVM standardization, this joint contribution offers a significant step toward creating a usable standard that can be supported by multiple vendors, and enables Cadence and our customers to leverage the current investments in our technology."

"Breker has been a vocal supporter of portable stimulus and our customers understand the need and value of our technology," said Adnan Hamid, CEO and co-founder of Breker Verification Systems. "The development of the standard and our joint contribution offer evidence of portable stimulus' progress from early adopter to mainstream technology."

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, hardware, IP, and services to design and verify advanced semiconductors, consumer electronics, networking and telecommunications equipment, and computer systems. 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.com.

About Mentor
Mentor Graphics Corporation 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 electronic, semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues in the last fiscal year in excess of $1.24 billion. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777.

About Breker
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software company Breker Verification Systems provides innovative solutions to solve the challenge of complex system-on-chip (SoC) functional verification. Its products are used in production at leading semiconductor companies in the U.S., Europe and India. Founded in 2003, it is privately held and funded. More information about Breker can be found at www.brekersystems.com.

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