The Week In Review: Design

M&A
Mentor Graphics acquired Nimbic, which makes simulation software for power and signal integrity and electromagnetic interference. No purchase price was given.

Synopsys’ Coverity subsidiary acquired Kalistick, which makes cloud-based software solutions to boost test efficiency. Terms of the deal were not provided.

Tools and IP
Sonics introduced a new development environment for simplifying IP integration for heterogeneous multicore SoCs. Included is a new graphical user interface and an embedded Tcl console.

Synopsys uncorked an integrated PCI Express 4.0 IP solution, including PHY, controller and verification IP. The new standard doubles performance to 16 GT/second.

Mentor Graphics rolled out a new version of its formal verification platform, which greatly simplifies creation of assertions. The company also unveiled embedded Linux software and development tools for the second generation of AMD‘s embedded R-Series APU.

Cadence introduced a solution for rapid die-package interconnect planning, which it says will reduce iterations between silicon and package design teams and shorten time to converge on the die-package physical interface by up to 60%.  The company also added transistor-level mixed-signal support for its FastSPICE simulator, which it says improves throughput by up to 10X.  And it announced immediate availability of DDR4 PHY IP built using TSMC’s 16nm finFET process.

Deals
ARM and Cadence expanded their collaboration for 64-bit processor designs. The deal adds automated verification environment creation and performance analysis for ARM’s V8-A processors, its GPUs, system IP and physical libraries.

Cadence also won a deal with CSR, which will use Cadence’s emulation platform for ARM-based automotive infotainment SoCs.

Breker Verification named Synapse Design as a consulting partner. Synapse engineers will be trained on Breker verification technology, while Breker will recommend Synapse consulting services to its customers.

Imagination Technologies inked a deal with Oracle to enhance Java for embedded applications and the IoT. The deal involves 32- and 64-bit MIPS architectures. Imagination also joined forces with Broadcom, Qualcomm, Cavium, and others to create an open-source foundation to support portability from datacenter to mobile device.

Carbon Design Systems extended its partnership with ARM for virtual prototyping. The previous deal allowed Carbon to access ARM RTL code and create virtual prototypes and models.

Numbers
Mentor Graphics reported its fiscal Q1 numbers. Revenue was $252.2 million, up from $226.5 million in the same period in 2013. The company showed a net loss of two cents per share, largely due to the acquisition of Berkeley System Design. On a non-GAAP basis, which takes that purchase into account, earnings per share was 11 cents. The results surpassed Mentor’s guidance to investors. For fiscal Q2, Mentor is projecting revenue of about $250 million.

Synopsys posted its fiscal Q2 numbers, as well. Revenue was $517.7 million, up from $499.3 million in the same period in 2013. Non-GAAP earnings per share were 65 cents. The company bought Coverity last quarter. Revenue targets for the current quarter are in the $515 million to $525 million range.