The Week In Review: Design

Tools

Synopsys announced the latest version of its VCS functional verification solution, which integrates native fine-grained parallelism (FGP) and additional engine optimizations for simulation on existing x86 CPU server configurations.

Aldec released the latest version of its requirements lifecycle management solutions for FPGAs/SoCs, adding certification document templates and review checklists for the development of FPGAs in DO-254 programs, as well as automatic parsing from multiple sources.

Ansys uncorked the latest version of its simulation suite, adding IR and EM analysis for advanced 3DIC designs implemented in TSMC’s InFO-WLP as well as a thermal and reliability analysis framework for PMICs and photonic designs to its semiconductor line. The chip-package-system workflow adds the ability to perform transient circuit-based simulation, system-level verification and cooling analysis from a single design.

IP

Rambus launched a 56G SerDes PHY developed on a second generation finFET process. The PHY provides both PAM-4 and NRZ signaling with a scalable and flexible ADC-based architecture to address long-reach backplane requirements for communications and data center applications.

Deals

Cavium deployed Cadence’s Palladium Z1 enterprise emulation platform, citing versatility, total cost of ownership, and faster turnaround times.

Rambus selected Synopsys’ ARC EM Processors for its next-generation security platform, citing area savings, performance efficiency, and code density.

Numbers

Cadence reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2016 with revenue of $469 million, up 6% from last year’s Q4. Revenue for 2016 totaled $1.8 billion, up 6.7% from 2015. On a GAAP basis, net income per share for the quarter was $0.14, down from $0.26 in Q4 2015. Non-GAAP income was $0.34 per share, up from $0.31 per share. For the year, GAAP income per share was $0.70, down from $0.81 per share last year, while non-GAAP earnings stood at $1.21 per share, up from $1.09 per share in 2015. In particular, President and CEO Lip-Bu Tan highlighted digital and signoff revenue, which grew 9% for the year. For the first quarter of 2017, the company expects revenue in the range of $470 million to $480 million.

Rambus also reported fourth quarter financial results with revenue of $97.6 million, up 27% from Q4 2015, and annual revenue of $336.6 million, up 14% from last year’s total. On a GAAP basis, there was a net loss per share of $0.03 for Q4 2016, down from income per share of $0.11 in the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP income per share was $0.16, down from $0.18 in Q4 2015. For the whole year, income per share was $0.06 on a GAAP basis, down from $1.80. Non-GAAP earnings held steady at $0.60 per share. For the first quarter of 2017, Rambus expects revenue to be between $93 million and $98 million.

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