Announcements

Press Release

Date: February 19th, 2008
Source: Novas

ALPS Electric Integrates Novas Verdi Automated Debug

Global device manufacturer looks to debug leader for solutions that accelerate verification of large-scale LSI designs

San Jose, Calif., February 19, 2008 — Novas Software, Inc., the leader in debug and visibility enhancement solutions for complex chip designs, today announced that the Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (Japan) has adopted the Novas Verdi^™ Automated Debug System. Alps Electric is a leading global manufacturer of electronic devices, supplying some 40,000 different components to around 2,000 companies all over the world.

Alps Electric produces highly evolved devices with advanced functions by fusing a wide range of core and proprietary technologies. The company has been engaged in the development of sensors for more than 20 years, and now offers a wide variety of sensors including the most up-to-date non-contact highly reliable magnetic sensors, capacitance type pressure sensors, and also traditional resistive sensors.

Alps Electric has initially deployed Novas' Verdi debug for their sensor IC product line, an array of mixed-signal devices used in many every day electronics applications to amplify the analog signal and convert to digital signal for output.

“Intellectual property and RTL code reuse is critical for today’s large-scale LSI designs. But, it means that we spend a lot of time determining whether a bug is in our own RTL, the third-party IP, or in the interface, before we can even begin to analyze the root cause,” said Mr. Kazuhiro Hirane, chief engineer at Alps Electric. “Verdi definitely minimizes this time with its auto trace and graphical schematic visualization capabilities. Verdi has also played an effective role in introducing assertion verification into our flow with its ability to both improve simulation run time and execute post-simulation assertion checks to further reduce overhead.”

The Novas Verdi Debug Automation System is a complete mixed-language debug system that automates the process of comprehending how complex IC and SoC designs work or why they do not. It provides a universal debug platform and common interface for accessing all the design knowledge and analysis engines needed throughout the verification tool and methodology flow. Engineers can analyze cause-and-effect relationships and visualize design behavior over time to better understand and accelerate debug of third-party intellectual property, legacy design code and new or unfamiliar components.

“Alps Electric strives to ‘perfect the art of electronics’ with its broad device portfolio serving a diverse set of markets. This aligns with our own vision and strategy for delivering to the global design community a world-class suite of automation technologies that enhance verification for even the most complex designs,” said Scott Sandler, president and CEO of Novas. “We welcome this opportunity to work with Alps Electric, and greatly appreciate their confidence in Verdi and our Japan-based organization to address their verification challenges.”

About Alps Electric

Alps Electric, an electronic parts and devices provider, focuses on three key markets: the mobile market, led by increasingly advanced mobile phones; the automotive market, where electronics is becoming more critical than ever; and the home market, where demand for digital equipment has seen explosive growth. For more information, visit: http://www.alps.com/index.html

About Novas

Novas Software, Inc. is the leading provider of design comprehension solutions that enhance verification of complex ICs, embedded systems and SoCs. The Verdi™ Automated Debug and Siloti™ Visibility Enhancement products cut debug time in half while dramatically minimizing simulation overhead. Novas’ global community brings together over 10,000 users and more than 50 third-party technology and service providers. Novas is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. with offices in Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific. For more information, visit www.novas.com or email info@novas.com.

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