Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Synplicity | Subject: Synplify 7.6 and Amplify 3.6
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 01 July 2004
Software cuts complex FPGA problems down
to size
The latest versions of Synplify FPGA synthesis and Amplify FPGA physical synthesis software claim significant quality of results improvements for complex FPGA devices.
The latest versions of Synplify FPGA synthesis and Amplify FPGA physical synthesis software claim significant quality of results (QoR) improvements for complex FPGA devices With these enhancements to its industry-leading FPGA synthesis software, Synplicity believes designers will experience improvements in their devices' timing performance, as well as achieve significant area/cost advantages
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 16 Apr 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Synplify DSP 3.6 includes new enhancements to architectural optimisations and DSP synthesis methodology, as well as new IP blocks and capacity improvements.
On average, the latest version of the Synplify software enables users to achieve a 10% area optimisation improvement for Altera's low-cost Cyclone FPGA devices and a 5% improvement on timing performance for Xilinx's Virtex-II Pro platform FPGA devices, compared with previous versions of the software.
Designers using devices from other FPGA vendors are expected to experience similar improvements.
With these improved results, designers can maximize design performance, often enabling them to use a lower speed grade device, which can save tens of thousands of dollars in silicon costs.
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"We believe this announcement furthers Synplicity's FPGA synthesis leadership position and delivers on the company's goal to consistently provide our customers with best-in-class quality of results", said Jeff Garrison, Director of Marketing for FPGA products at Synplicity.
"The latest versions of our software emphasize area optimisation for low-cost devices such as Altera's Cyclone and Xilinx's Spartan families, resulting in significant cost reduction opportunities, while improving timing optimisation for high-capacity FPGAs, such as Altera's Stratix II, Xilinx's Virtex-II Pro and Actel's ProASIC Plus".
"Our timing-driven synthesis algorithms allow users to specify the performance required and then optimise for area once their speed is met, resulting in a cost-effective implementation".
"With Synplicity's synthesis and physical synthesis software, customers now have access to leading-edge tools and design flows that maximise performance, but also result in smaller designs", said Tim Southgate, Altera's Vice President of Software and Tools Marketing.
"Synplicity's efforts on area optimisation for our low-cost Cyclone family deliver even more cost savings for our customers".
According to Steve Lass, Director, Software Marketing at Xilinx: "Synplicity continues to deliver FPGA synthesis products that offer excellent quality of results and productivity advantages specifically optimised for our high-performance devices".
"By adding enhancements, such as the improved RAM inferencing, to the latest versions of its synthesis software, Synplicity will enable our mutual customers to achieve even greater timing performance for our Virtex-II Pro and Spartan-3 families than was possible with previous versions".
Enhancements to the Synplify software include: improved support for mixed-language designs; enhanced RAM inferencing; hierarchical area reporting for RAMs, DSP and black boxes; and clock enable extraction for ALTSYNCRAM in Altera devices.
In addition, the Amplify physical synthesis software now provides enhanced timing correlation between pre- and post-results, leading to fewer synthesis and place-and-route iterations.
Test cases show more than 90% of the designs run had estimation differences within ten percent of the final post place-and-route timing numbers.
The enhancements made to the latest versions of Synplicity's FPGA synthesis and physical synthesis software provide designers with the capability to quickly converge on aggressive timing for even the most complex devices, resulting in the highest quality of results.
The Synplify 7.6 and Amplify 3.6 software are available now.
Pricing starts at US $9500 for the Synplify software and $29,000 for the Amplify FPGA software.
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