SAP Positioned in Leaders Quadrant for Salesforce Automation

Press release:

SAP Positioned in Leaders Quadrant for Salesforce Automation

SAP NEWSBYTE - July 30, 2012 | SAP - Cloud Computing

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Salesforce Automation report.1

"We believe this is a confirmation of SAP's commitment and strategy to help our customers run their 21st-century sales organizations better than ever before," said Dietmar Bohn, vice president, Solution Management, Line of Business Sales, SAP. "Companies are embracing the new rules of selling to today's confident and socially connected buyers by arming the sales team with the tools that enable today's sellers to make an impact in every deal. SAP offers a broad suite of CRM solutions that provides sales team with deep customer insights, the ability to collaborate effectively by harnessing tribal sales knowledge and the agility to respond to customer and market events as they occur."

Part of SAP Business Suite software, the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application enables companies to provide excellent customer experiences and maximize the effectiveness of every customer interaction across sales, marketing, service, finance, supply chain, logistics, manufacturing and human resources.

SAP also offers a natively-built cloud application for sales effectiveness, the SAP Sales OnDemand solution. Launched in mid-2011, it is designed to specifically support the way sales professionals work and help them sell more effectively in a mobile and collaborative environment.

For more information on SAP CRM, visit the Customer Experience Edge website,www.360customerview.com. To learn more about SAP Sales OnDemand, visitwww.sales.ondemand.com. For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at@sapnews and @sapcrm.

1 Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Salesforce Automation" by Robert P. Desisto, 18 July 2012.

Latest Synopsys Virtualizer Release Speeds Virtual Prototype Creation by up to 3X

News release:

Latest Synopsys Virtualizer Release Speeds Virtual Prototype Creation by up to 3X

New Modeling Interface and Automation Increase Modeling Productivity to Enable Earlier Start of Software Development

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Highlights:

• Enhanced model authoring capability speeds the creation of SystemC-based transaction-level models used to build virtual prototypes
• New import function reduces modeling effort and errors by automating model generation from IP specifications captured in popular formats such as IP-XACT, Excel, Word and PDF
• New simulation profiler quickly identifies execution bottlenecks to enable faster prototype simulation performance
• Deeper integration with popular software debuggers such as ARM Development Studio 5 (DS-5™) and Lauterbach TRACE32 System helps identify difficult bugs through multicore and context-aware debugging

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announced availability of the latest release of Synopsys' Virtualizer™ tool set for creating virtual prototypes and Virtualizer Development Kits (VDKs) that accelerate embedded software development. The new Virtualizer release improves modeling productivity through its new model authoring feature and IP specification import function, enabling engineers to develop system-level models and assemble them into virtual prototypes up to three times faster. In addition, enhanced support for popular debugger tools allows software developers to easily integrate Virtualizer-based virtual prototypes into their existing software debug flows.
"Using Virtualizer, we can abstract the full SoC design into a virtual prototype in a very short period of time to facilitate early software development and hardware/software integration," said Satoshi Aoki of the Embedded Platform Development Department at Ricoh Company, Ltd. "We believe Virtualizer is a must-have tool for SoC development."
Synopsys' Virtualizer virtual prototyping solution is an integral part of the industry's most comprehensive solution of tools, models and services for early software development, hardware/software integration, and system validation. Virtualizer addresses the increasing software complexity associated with semiconductor and electronic products by enabling the efficient creation of SystemC-based transaction-level models (TLMs), as well as the assembly of TLMs into virtual prototypes representing complete systems. The Virtualizer tool set is also used by designers to create customized VDKs, software development kits containing design-specific virtual prototypes as well as debug and analysis tools and sample software, which can be deployed to software development teams up to 12 months before silicon availability. Ready-to-use VDKs for ARM® big.LITTLE™ processing and ARM Cortex™-A15 MPCore™ processor-based designs are also available from Synopsys.
"Mitigating development risk and reducing time to market are key considerations for companies developing complex systems such as smartphones, tablets and smart-TVs," said Javier Orensanz, director of product management, system design division, ARM. "The Synopsys VDKs for ARM big.LITTLE processing and Cortex-A15 processor-based designs enable engineers to achieve optimal results by addressing these considerations. When used alongside ARM Development Studio 5 and the ARM Streamline™ performance analyzer, engineers are able to improve energy efficiency and even further reduce development risk."
This Virtualizer release incorporates a new graphical simulation profiler which makes it easier for virtual prototyping teams to find and address simulation bottlenecks. Out-of-the-box support for the latest APIs in popular software debuggers such as Lauterbach TRACE32 System and ARM Development Studio 5 (DS-5) enables software teams to use VDKs to create a powerful, integrated environment for multicore software debug. In addition, integration with MathWorks' Simulink simulation environment enables more rapid deployment of virtual hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing.
"The tight integration of our TRACE32 debugger with the latest Virtualizer release includes mutual support for the industry-standard Multi-Core Debug API, giving software programmers a unified and efficient environment for multicore debug and analysis," said Stephan Lauterbach, general manager at Lauterbach. "This integration enables engineers to start software development early in the design cycle on virtual prototypes without having to switch to other debug tools as they transition to real hardware."
The model authoring interface in the new Virtualizer tool set simplifies and automates model creation with new features such as automatic design rule checking and design-sensitive help, improving modeling productivity for both virtual prototyping experts as well as those less experienced. The new tool release also enables users to import existing IP specifications in popular formats such as IP-XACT, Excel, Word and PDF, further speeding model development by automatically generating SystemC Modeling Library (SCML) constructs and industry-standard Accellera Systems Initiative TLM-2.0 bus interfaces. In addition to providing improved model creation capabilities, the most recent Virtualizer release continues to support direct integration of TLM-2.0 standard-based models of common IP blocks readily available in the market, including Synopsys' DesignWare® TLM Library models, ARM Fast Models, and other SystemC TLM models available from Synopsys.  It also supports more than 900 system-level models that can be found on TLMCentral.
"Software teams are increasingly taking advantage of virtual prototypes to get an early jump on software development," said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP and systems at Synopsys. "The latest release of Virtualizer makes it easier and faster than ever for design teams to create virtual prototypes and deploy them to software engineers in VDKs, enabling a significant time-to-market advantage over competitors relying on only traditional software development methods."
Availability & ResourcesThe new Virtualizer 12.06 release is available now.

• Learn more about Virtualizer: http://www.synopsys.com/Virtualizer
  • Read A View from the Top blog
  • See our virtual prototyping videos
  • Try our virtual prototyping demo

About SynopsysSynopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com.

Press release:

Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 Launches

July 17, 2012

Over 70 existing partners have upgraded and are using the latest features, including support for Parallels Plesk Panel 11, new tools to create affiliate programs and other enhancements designed to grow their hosting businesses

RENTON, WA – July 17, 2012 – Parallels, a global leader in hosting and cloud services enablement and desktop virtualization, has officially launched Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2, the newest version of the most proven billing and automation solution for managing and scaling small and medium Web hosting businesses. Over 70 partners have upgrade to Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 to date, and are now utilizing the new capabilities and features designed to help small and growing hosters build their businesses and increase their revenue.

Customers new to Parallels Business Automation Standard can now receive a license at no cost, and jump start their hosting business under the new Revenue Share Program (with no commission on sales up to $8,000 in monthly revenue). Service providers deploying Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 will receive free installation and administration training, plus full automation of their online store, billing, payment processing and hosting provisioning.

Hosters can also boost sales and customer loyalty by using the new affiliate program tools with Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2. Parallels partners can now easily create multiple affiliate programs; determine conditions and compensation types; set either fixed or percentage rates for resellers; and track and create reports for all their programs.

“The new affiliate program tools are an excellent means to recruit and incentivize existing ViUX customers to refer and promote our services to others,” said J.T. Smith, Managing Director of ViUX Systems, Inc. “This will be a key feature to increase our revenue and customer base throughout the remainder of 2012 and for years to come. The new affiliate capabilities and the many other new features make version 4.2 an excellent upgrade of Parallels Business Automation Standard.”

“At Parallels, we continue to be supportive for providing small and growing hosters with all the tools they need to build their sales channel and increase their revenue,” said Jack Zubarev, President of Parallels. “Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 helps service providers exceed these goals by reducing their operational costs and automating their infrastructure, so they have more time to build and grow their business. And, by joining Parallels Partner Program at our new Member level or above, any growing hoster now has access to expertise, best practices, go-to-market tools and other resources that can take their business to the next level.”

Integration with Parallels Plesk Panel 11
Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 supports the new Parallels Plesk Panel 11 (see separate release), which can help hosters increase their revenue by creating and offering customized VPS, Dedicated and Shared Hosting plans bundled with a wide range of in-demand, revenue-driving add-ons. These applications include the new Parallels Web Presence Builder, with over 100 small business website templates and social media support; support for rendering websites on any mobile device with Unity Mobile; Kaspersky antivirus mail protection, and a set of popular Web developer tools for more advanced users.

In addition, Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 allows hosters to offer different versions of Linux (Red Hat, CentOS, Mandriva, SUSE) or Windows Server within the same hosting plan, and eliminates the need to create different hosting plans. This effectively simplifies hosters’ SKUs and product range and can help increase sales.

Enhanced Marketing Campaigns with Affiliate Program Tools
Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 helps hosters create and build affiliate programs and expand their reseller channel. Affiliate partners also have access to marketing tools including links and banners, and can also earn revenue by advertising hosters’ services on end-user websites. For more information, hosters can view the release notes, or try the online demo.

Seamless Usability Across Parallels Service Provider Software
Parallels now has a common user interface across all of its service provider software – from Parallels Plesk Panel 11 to Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2. to Parallels Automation 5.4. Parallels Business Automation Standard 4.2 is also fully integrated with numerous third party systems, including Kayako Fusion Help Desk. It also provide integration with hundreds of payment gateways, domain registrars/registries, anti-fraud modules, and bank transfer modules. Service providers can add new modules and language packs using the APIs included.

Service Providers deploying Parallels Business Automation Standard can choose either Account-Based pricing or the new Revenue Share program. Pricing options, negotiated discounts and volume pricing are available through Parallels sales channels. Interested service providers can also visit http://www.parallels.com/products/pba-standard/request-info/ to request more information.

About Parallels
Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 900 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.

For information on Parallels, visit www.parallels.com/spp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud and Like Us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.

Oracle Press Release

Oracle Introduces Newest Version of Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition

Release Provides Financial Services Institutions with Enhanced Self-Service for Customers and Improvements for Knowledge Workers

Redwood Shores, Calif. – July 12, 2012

News Facts

Oracle today announced the availability of Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition 12.1, the leading Enterprise Document Automation (EDA) solution that helps to create, manage and deliver enterprise communications, when and how customers and stakeholders want them.

With the newest release, companies can create documents more quickly – with less IT assistance – through enhanced collaboration features, including:

Editable text areas in the solution’s Work-in-Process workflow, enabling users to efficiently collaborate to create documents, contracts and agreements, while tracking all changes with a full audit trail.

Enhanced Microsoft Word Add-In functionality that enables users to easily move documents from Oracle Documaker to Microsoft Word and back again, preserving design, formatting and output quality. This capability facilitates document review, within and outside the company, and is especially useful for negotiated documents that involve multiple iterations and parties, many of whom work in Microsoft Word.

Support for Microsoft Word 2010 and 2007 that gives business users more options to create and design documents.

To help accelerate time-to-market for new products, Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition 12.1 features Library Project Management (LPM) that introduces a project management-style library, helping users more easily manage the wealth of documentation associated with the release of a new product – such as a new insurance offering or new type of bank account. It supports product development best practices, providing role-based task and action prompts – such as notification to update associated documents – as a product moves through development, review, testing and regulatory approval.

Users now have the ability to perform a “Print Preview” on an entire document package, rather than one document at a time. Users can pull documents out of a batch run, preview, edit and approve them without interrupting the print run, helping to speed up production.

Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition has achieved Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) certification for conformance with the Rehabilitation Act’s Section 508 accessibility standards, which require access for people with disabilities to electronic and information technology provided by the Federal government.

Supporting Quote

“Organizations today are constantly seeking to make their business users more efficient and improve their overall operations. The new features in Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition 12.1 significantly improve ease-of- use for business users, allowing them to collaborate on mission-critical documents more easily and quickly. The application also helps companies get new products to market faster, giving them better ways to manage the extensive documentation that goes along with introducing a new product. Oracle Documaker is the most widely used application of its kind, and we expect these new features to further expand the application’s appeal in the market,” said Srini Venkatasanthanam, vice president, insurance products, Oracle.

Supporting Resources

Oracle Insurance

Oracle Insurance on Facebook

Oracle Insurance on Twitter

Oracle Insurance on LinkedIn

Oracle Insurance on Diigo

About Oracle

Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in your data center.  For more information about Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), visit www.oracle.com

About Oracle in Industries

Oracle industry solutions leverage the company's best-in-class portfolio of products to address complex business processes relevant to insurance, helping speed time to market, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Selects Synopsys' Yield Explorer for Faster Yield Ramp

News release:

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Selects Synopsys' Yield Explorer for Faster Yield Ramp

Unique Fabless-Foundry Sharing Model Allows Automated Volume Diagnostics to Identify and Prioritize Systematic Failure Mechanisms

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announced that GLOBALFOUNDRIES has selected Synopsys' Yield Explorer® solution as part of their next-phase Yield Management System (YMS) for faster yield ramp based on volume diagnostics.  Rapid identification and correction of systematic failure mechanisms is critical to bringing a new technology node to production and driving the yield ramp on new integrated circuit (IC) designs. Yield Explorer Automated Volume Diagnostics allows GLOBALFOUNDRIES to quickly identify the dominant systematic failure mechanisms on early test chips as well as customers' chips, thereby reducing the time to achieve desirable yield levels. In addition, Yield Explorer's unique ability to combine and analyze data from design, fab and test domains enables collaboration between GLOBALFOUNDRIES and its customers to rapidly identify failure mechanisms and activate process or design corrective actions with high clarity and ease.
"Understanding and preventing the yield loss caused by design-process interactions is critical to ramp-up of designs manufactured on a new node," said Robert Madge, director of design enabled manufacturing at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "Yield Explorer is a valuable new addition to our advanced Yield Management capabilities. Yield Explorer's unique data-sharing model very effectively addresses the sensitivity of design data, allowing strong collaboration with our customers during the yield ramp phase."
Yield Explorer delivers unparalleled flexibility and depth of capabilities in correlating yield loss to various design, fab and test attributes, as well as fast, robust automation for production analysis and reporting. Expert users benefit from the flexibility to perform analysis with an exploratory approach. Production teams rely on automated analysis routines to create various reports and provide a quick first view of yield issues on new production batches with minimal impact on cycle time. Additionally, any inputs to design teams for adjusting test plans or incremental layout changes are provided with specific and actionable details about the yield- limiting attribute of test or layout. The automated volume diagnostics in Yield Explorer are simple to deploy and work smoothly across a variety of design, fab and test outputs and data formats.
"Meeting yield targets for complex designs implemented on 28-nm and below technology requires understanding the complex interactions of design, lithography and process," said Howard Ko, senior vice president and general manager, Synopsys Silicon Engineering Group. "We are excited that GLOBALFOUNDRIES has chosen Yield Explorer to help them more quickly ramp-up new nodes and new designs."
About SynopsysSynopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.

CA Technologies Solution Competencies Added to the Cisco Cloud Builder Partner Program

Press Releases

CA Technologies Solution Competencies Added to the Cisco Cloud Builder Partner Program

CA Automation Suite for Clouds Helps Cisco Partners Build and Manage Cloud Environments

ISLANDIA, N.Y., May 3, 2012 – CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) today announced that channel partners with expert proficiency in CA Automation Suite for Clouds now meet the Cloud Management Competency Validation criteria for the Cloud Builder designation of the Cisco Cloud Partner Program.

Under the Cloud Builder designation, Cisco validates partners' cloud building competencies in three key categories: infrastructure, cloud management and professional services. The Cisco Cloud Partner Program empowers partners to design and implement Cisco-based, end-to-end private or public clouds.

CA Technologies Automation Suite for Clouds is a validated and qualified application in the Cloud Builder track for which partners can exhibit competency and earn the Cisco Cloud Builder designation.

“CA Technologies broad support for Cisco across its data center, and cloud architectures enables Cisco channel partners to deliver services that can drive better business outcomes,” said Roger Pilc, general manager, Industries, Solutions and Alliances Group, CA Technologies.

“We are thrilled to be working with both CA Technologies and Cisco,” said Simon Daykin, chief technology officer, Logicalis UK. “We rely on CA Automation Suite for Clouds and Cisco CloudVerse to power our private cloud services. The combination enables our customers to benefit from the rapid delivery of service, while also achieving improved cost efficiencies.”

The collaboration between CA Technologies and Cisco delivers complementary integrated solutions for channel partners and end customers to quickly gain the visibility, control and automation that drives more responsive and profitable cloud computing. The companies’ shared vision of enabling channel partners and customers to more rapidly plan, provision, secure and optimize cloud services is reflected in their comprehensive solutions portfolios. By combining essential elements of service automation and service assurance, the integrated solutions help accelerate migration to a more flexible and cost efficient data center, while addressing the business need for fast and flexible service delivery.

About CA Technologies

CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is an IT management software and solutions company with expertise across all IT environments – from mainframe and distributed, to virtual and cloud. CA Technologies manages and secures IT environments and enables customers to deliver more flexible IT services. CA Technologies innovative products and services provide the insight and control essential for IT organizations to power business agility. The majority of the Global Fortune 500 relies on CA Technologies to manage evolving IT ecosystems. For additional information, visit CA Technologies at www.ca.com.

Press release:

CUSTOMER SUCCESS: City of Long Beach Cost-Efficiently Streamlines Municipal Processes with BMC’s Workload Automation Solution

BMC Control-M Enables the City to Improve IT Services and Management to Support Payroll, Utility Billing, Reporting and other Critical Processes

Long Beach, Calif., May 1, 2012 – BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC), the recognized leader in Business Service Management(BSM), today announced that the City of Long Beach, California has improved its delivery of IT services with the BMC Control-M Workload Automation solution. With the new solution in place, the city can better manage and control its scheduled workloads across a hybrid data center to cost-efficiently streamline processes, detect issues and improve service.

The City of Long Beach has earned recognition as a Top-10 Digital City for its strength in embracing current technology to improve the delivery of city services while minimizing costs. Playing to this strength is the city’s selection of the BMC Control-M Workload Automation solution for managing and scheduling IT workloads that support municipal processes. The city selected the tool based on its ability to manage scheduled work across the entire hybrid datacenter. This functionality is paramount as the city migrates off the mainframe to a fully distributed environment. The new system also provides a self-service portal to enable business users to manage tasks, generate reports and maintain records without using IT staff resources.

“With the previous software tools we used, we could not see what was happening with our scheduled processing throughout our entire datacenter, which impaired time and cost efficiency,” said Rusty Clark, data center supervisor, City of Long Beach. “Those issues have been fixed with the single point of control delivered by BMC Control-M. Moreover, we can readily identify issues with precision to ensure workload processing occurs on time and without error.”

As part of this project, the city has also implemented the following solutions:

• BMC Control-M Self Service to provide business users access to workload automation services.
• BMC Control-M/Tape for easy management of tape libraries to assist with compliance and records management.
• BMC Control-D to provide simplified report access.

Previously the City of Long Beach used CA7 to manage its workload scheduling for the mainframe, but turned to the BMC Control-M Workload Automation solution because it needed a tool that offered a cross-application, cross-platform approach to support its data center upgrade. The team completed the transition to BMC’s solution in less than two months using BMC’s conversion tools that significantly simplified the process. Additionally, these tools enabled the quick conversion to the BMC Control-D and the BMC Control-M/Tape products.

The city reports the BMC Control-M Self Service solution increased productivity for business and operation users. Tasks that previously required help from the IT staff can now be managed directly, which users enjoy because they feel more in control of their projects. For example, employee paychecks cannot be issued before they are certified. Instead of manually sending files between several people and departments – a slow, error-prone process – a job is scheduled in Control-M that sends the appropriate files to the responsible person for review. After the files are approved from a web browser, the next job in the series is automatically triggered. This new automated process has improved speed and accuracy to ensure timely delivery of paychecks. Furthermore, an audit trail is generated, satisfying compliance and reporting needs.

The BMC Control-M solution also serves as an early warning system to help the city detect and troubleshoot issues before they happen. The ability to see business processes from end to end helps the city be more proactive with their scheduled workloads and ensures service level agreements are met. 

Read the full case study here >>

For more information about BMC and the BMC Control-M solution, please visit:

• Follow @bmcsoftware and @BMCControlM on Twitter
• Become a fan of BMC on Facebook

Business Runs on IT. IT Runs on BMC Software.

More than 25,000 IT organizations – from the Global 100 to the smallest businesses – in over 120 countries rely on BMC Software to manage their business services and applications across distributed, mainframe, virtual and cloud environments. With the leading Business Service Management platform, Cloud Management, and the industry’s broadest choice of IT management solutions, BMC helps customers cut costs, reduce risk, and achieve business objectives. For the four fiscal quarters ended December 31, 2011, BMC revenue was approximately $2.2 billion. For more information about BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC), please visit www.bmc.com.

Samsung Electronics Tapes out Gigahertz+ ARM Cortex-A15 Processor with Synopsys IC Compiler

Press Release:

Samsung Electronics Tapes out Gigahertz+ ARM Cortex-A15 Processor with Synopsys IC Compiler

Hardened core used in industry's first ARM® Cortex™-A15 processor-based SoC for mobile computing devices

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announced the successful collaboration between Synopsys and Samsung Electronics on the implementation of an ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore™ processor. The processor core was implemented by Samsung Austin Research Center (SARC) using Synopsys IC Compiler place-and-route technology, a cornerstone of the Synopsys Galaxy™ Implementation Platform. Running at operating speeds in excess of a gigahertz on Samsung's 32nm low power process, the hardened core has already been deployed in the industry's first Cortex-A15 processor-based SoC for mobile computing devices. The high speed was enabled through a unique combination of innovative optimization techniques and differentiated high-performance technologies which have made IC Compiler the tool of choice for high-performance designs across multiple process nodes.
"Our mission is to deliver the highest frequency while minimizing power for high-end processor and graphics cores targeted to the mobile computing and digital home markets," said Keith Hawkins, vice president, SARC. "Globally, this was the first production tapeout of a Cortex-A15 processor and we relied exclusively on IC Compiler and the Galaxy tool suite to predictably achieve our performance and power targets."
Samsung fabricated the three–million-instance, dual-core Cortex-A15 processor on a 32LP high-K metal gate (HKMG) process. Synopsys collaborated closely with SARC on an implementation methodology based on key high performance technologies and optimization techniques in the Galaxy Implementation Platform to meet Samsung's stringent mass production criteria for an on-time tapeout. The processor core relied on Physical Datapath in Design Compiler® Topographical and IC Compiler for the structured placement of registers to meet power and area objectives. Layout-based debug with Design Compiler Topographical allowed quick analysis of library, netlist and placement issues to close timing. Clock mesh in IC Compiler and PrimeTime® provided the low skew and increased on-chip-variation (OCV) tolerance necessary for the high-performance core.
"Samsung is a leading provider of silicon in the mobile computing market, as can be seen by its smart phone and tablet market penetration," said Antun Domic, senior vice president and general manager, Implementation Group at Synopsys. "Being at the forefront of next generation mobile products, Samsung has driven many of the technology innovations that have reinforced the position of IC Compiler as the leading choice for high-performance design. The benefits of our ongoing partnership can be seen in the impressive level of performance delivered by this gigahertz-plus processor core."
About Synopsys®
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.