Synopsys' TetraMAX ATPG Tool Receives Best inTest Award From Test & Measurement World...

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 2000

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), the technology leader for complex IC design, today announced that the company's advanced TetraMAX(TM) automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) tool has

been selected by editors at Test & Measurement World Magazine to receive the publication's "Best In Test" Award for 2000. The Best In Test Awards are presented annually by Test & Measurement World editors to honor important and innovative new products in the electronics test and measurement industry. TetraMAX ATPG was the only product from the electronic design automation (EDA) industry to receive this prestigious award.

"TetraMAX has been enthusiastically accepted by our customers since its introduction a little over six months ago," said Antun Domic, vice president and general manager for Synopsys' Nanometer and Test Analysis Business Unit. "This award is continued validation not only for the TetraMAX tool, but also for the growing need of the semiconductor industry for design for test solutions that can successfully detect manufacturing flaws in today's increasingly complex ICs."

According to Roy Forsberg, VP/Publisher of Test & Measurement World Magazine, "Our editors reviewed hundreds of nominations from all areas of electronics testing. It is our intention to recognize and encourage the continued development of products that help engineers overcome their toughest test challenges. We are happy to include Synopsys' TetraMAX tool as one of the 1999 Best In Test products."

About TetraMAX

The TetraMAX ATPG product works in concert with Synopsys' DC Expert Plus 1-Pass(TM) test synthesis capabilities to provide customers with a unique combination of raw performance that is integrated with a transparent design-for-test (DFT) flow. Synopsys' TetraMAX ATPG works seamlessly with the company's 1-Pass test synthesis design flow, and does not require any manual set-up-all test logic attributes and behaviors are automatically transferred from DC Expert Plus to TetraMAX ATPG. Moreover, compared with existing Synopsys' ATPG products applied on real-world circuits, TetraMAX ATPG runs are up to five times faster and result in up to 50 percent smaller vector sets. In addition, the tool can accommodate designs up to ten times larger. The combination of Synopsys' 1-Pass test synthesis Plus and TetraMAX ATPG provides the diagnostic and debugging power, and ease-of-use that make DFT and test generation tasks much simpler.

About Synopsys

Synopsys Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS), is a leading supplier of electronic design automation (EDA) solutions to the global electronics market. The company provides comprehensive design technologies to creators of advanced integrated circuits, electronic systems and systems-on-a-chip. Synopsys also provides consulting services and support to its customers to streamline the overall design process and accelerate time-to-market. Additional information about Synopsys is available at http://www.synopsys.com.

Note to Editors: Synopsys is a registered trademark and 1-Pass, DC Expert Plus, Design Compiler, TestGen and TetraMAX are trademarks of Synopsys, Inc.