Acquisition adds to FPGA debug capabilities

Synplicity has acquired a novel FPGA debug product, core technology and other intellectual property from California-based EDA company Bridges2Silicon.

Synplicity has acquired a novel FPGA debug product, core technology and other intellectual property from California-based EDA company Bridges2Silicon.

Synplicity plans to sell the stand-alone FPGA debug product and intends to apply the underlying technology for the development of next-generation debug products.

Synplicity completed the asset acquisition for cash consideration of $2.5 million.

"As part of our roadmap, we have identified critical technologies for product development within the ASIC and FPGA space", said Kenneth McElvain, Synplicity's Chief Technical Officer.

"The Bridges2Silicon technology represents an important component for us given the increasing verification challenges our customers face.

We expect this technology to provide a solution that enables our customers to quickly and easily debug their complex system-on-chip FPGA designs.

The Bridges2Silicon technology will enhance our robust FPGA synthesis product portfolio and also complement our Certify software for FPGA-based prototypes, helping ASIC designers identify and fix problems in their designs more quickly".

Bernard Aronson, President and CEO of Synplicity, said: "We have investigated the FPGA debug market and believe it represents a good growth opportunity for Synplicity.

The unique RTL debug solution from Bridges2Silicon is complementary to our existing products, allowing us to provide FPGA verification benefits to our customers immediately.

In addition to a market-ready product, we have acquired a rich patent portfolio that we expect we can leverage for existing and future product development".

As part of the product and technology acquisition, Synplicity has also hired three members of the EDA development team that created the debugger product and technology.

These new employees will join Synplicity's FPGA synthesis and RTL prototyping product teams to develop next-generation products based on the debugging technology.

Mark Beardslee, founder and Vice President, Engineering of Bridges2Silicon said: "Bridges2Silicon is excited Synplicity has chosen to combine our products and technology with its world-class synthesis and prototyping tools.

The combined toolset will provide designers with a unique in-system debugging environment that lets designers look inside their devices to quickly find errors".

Synplicity plans to sell the Bridges2Silicon debugger software as part of a new Identify family of debugging solutions.

The product is available now from Synplicity with prices starting at approximately $15,000.

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