DAFCA COLLABORATES WITH NOVAS FOR BETTER IN-SILICON VALIDATION

Leading vendor of on-chip reconfigurable infrastructure integrates with new Novas Siloti visibility enhancement product to extend silicon debug capabilities.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — March 6, 2006 — DAFCA, Inc., the leading vendor of on-chip reconfigurable debug infrastructure that enables the rapid discovery and diagnosis of in-silicon functional errors, today announced support for the Siloti^TM SilVE^TM Visibility Enhancement (VE) product, introduced separately today by Novas Software, Inc. Through the integration of their product suites, the companies will dramatically improve existing silicon debug methodologies for complex ICs and SoCs.

"We are delighted to work with DAFCA in post-silicon debug and validation," commented Scott Sandler, President and CEO, Novas Software. "Our tools are perfectly complementary, and powerful when used together. Novas' Siloti and Verdi are the most effective tools for gaining visibility into the behavior of complex chip designs and comprehending the root causes of problems discovered in silicon. DAFCA's on-chip infrastructure and diagnosis capability adds enormous value for uncovering the really difficult deep-state issues that escape pre-silicon validation."

DAFCA's ClearBlue instrumentation studio is a seamless part of the synthesis flow. It inserts reconfigurable instruments at RTL or Gate Level for post-silicon use. DAFCA's ClearBlue debug environment offers a wide spectrum of configurable analysis choices, including trace buffers, logic analyzers, cross-triggers, and assertion-based debug, that all feed directly into Novas' FSDB (fast signal database) interface.

The complexity of third-party cores, coupled with ambiguous specifications and unanticipated use models, makes post-silicon debug the lease predictable and most expensive part of the design flow. Delays from in-silicon functional errors are the most lethal to silicon vendors. The DAFCA and Novas product integration will provide one of the most comprehensive post-silicon debug solutions, allowing customers to dynamically "dial-in" the intervals they want to see, and identify the signals that need special attention. Moreover, the combined solution removes the classic trade-off between observability and performance.

"We've taken a significant step toward the holy grail of post-silicon analysis," commented Peter Levin, President and CEO, DAFCA. "Integrating DAFCA reconfigurable instruments and diagnosis software with Novas' design comprehension solutions will allow design engineers to deal with pre- and post-silicon issues within the same environment, and extend the reach of simulation and emulation into the actual silicon device."

Availability

DAFCA's ClearBlue on-chip debug environment is in beta testing at several leading integrated device manufacturers, and will be generally available in the summer of 2006. Early commercialization of their tool was made possible by the support from the NIST Advanced Technology Program. Evaluation slots are still available for select companies that have had trouble with silicon debug and multiple re-spins.

About DAFCA

DAFCA is an electronic design automation (EDA) software company focused on post-silicon debug of system-on-chip (SoC) devices. Our patent-pending reconfigurable on-chip infrastructure is easily inserted at RTL, and configured, operated, and controlled by an intuitive interface. DAFCA's ground-breaking technology enables rapid silicon, debug, and significantly reduces program risk and time-to-market. Learn more about the company by visiting their web site at www.dafca.com.