Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS), the world leader in semiconductor design software, today announced that Star-RCXT™ -- the industry standard for RC parasitic extraction -- has been validated for UMC's most advanced 90 nanometer (nm) processes. Mutual customers designing today can leverage Star-RCXT for accurate parasitic extraction and modeling of 90nm effects. In addition to the validation for UMC's 90nm processes, Faraday has adopted Star-RCXT for silicon-accurate parasitic extraction.

"Star-RCXT simplifies our design methodology, delivering a single parasitic extraction tool for all our flows," said Jim Wang, director of the Design Development Division at Faraday. "As we strive to develop the best libraries and IPs for UMC, our foundry partner, Star-RCXT's advanced modeling of silicon process features -- such as metal fill effects in copper material integration -- ensures accuracy to within five percent or one femtofarad of field solver for our most complex designs."

Star-RCXT is the market-leading parasitic extraction solution in Synopsys' Galaxy™ Design Platform, and the only extraction tool to cover cell-based, custom digital, and analog/mixed signal designs. Star-RCXT supports all 90nm process capabilities including in-die process variation solutions such as selective process biasing (spacing- and width-dependent metal bias), local density effects (LDE), length of diffusion (LOD) and metal fill. In modeling such advanced silicon process features, Star-RCXT extracts silicon-accurate RC parasitics for use with PrimeTime® SI to ensure rapid timing and signal integrity sign-off.

Ken Liou, director of UMC's Design Support division, said, "Since becoming the first foundry to deliver 90 nanometer customer products in 2003, UMC has continued to work with leading EDA companies such as Synopsys to deliver proven tools and flows for mainstream 90 nanometer designs. Synopsys' Star-RCXT complements the portfolio of solutions that target our processes by providing a tool for RC parasitic extraction. We look forward to its implementation as our 90 nanometer products roll out for multiple applications on 300 millimeter wafers."

"Star-RCXT is being used today on leading-edge designs for RC parasitic extraction and sign-off," said Antun Domic, senior vice president and general manager of Synopsys' Implementation Group. "UMC's validation of Star-RCXT ensures customer access to next-generation processes for use with Synopsys implementation tools and flows."

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. is the world leader in electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductor design. The company delivers technology-leading semiconductor design and verification platforms and IC manufacturing software products to the global electronics market, enabling the development and production of complex systems-on-chips (SoCs). Synopsys also provides intellectual property and design services to simplify the design process and accelerate time-to-market for its customers. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 60 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Asia. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/ .

NOTE: Synopsys and PrimeTime are registered trademarks of Synopsys, Inc. Galaxy and Star-RCXT are trademarks of Synopsys. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Synopsys, Inc.

CONTACT: Nancy Renzullo of Synopsys, Inc., +1-650-584-1669, or
renzullo@synopsys.com; or Sarah Seifert of Edelman Public Relations,
+1-650-429-2776, or Sarah.seifert@edelman.com, for Synopsys, Inc.

Web site: http://www.synopsys.com/