"MatrixOne, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions for the value chain, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Synchronicity Software, Inc., for consideration valued at approximately $18 million in stock and cash. The acquisition, which is subject to various closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early August 2004. Synchronicity is a leading provider in electronic design management, team collaboration and intellectual property (IP) reuse solutions for the global electronics industry. Synchronicity has more than 120 electronics industry customers, including 13 of the top 15 semiconductor companies."

"Mentor Graphics Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 0-In Design Automation, Inc., the industry-leading provider of assertion-based and formal verification solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mentor Graphics will continue to support 0-In's existing line of products and customers and will expand distribution and support of these products with Mentor Graphics' global sales and support organization. 0-In products will become part of the Mentor Graphics Scalable Verification platform offering a complete range of integrated verification technologies including simulation, assertions, formal verification, emulation, and hardware-software co-verification."

"Xilinx, Inc. announced the acquisition of privately held Hier Design, a pioneer in hierarchical floorplanning and analysis software for high-performance FPGA design. Today's news underscores Xilinx's commitment to providing customers with the industry's most comprehensive methodology and tools for platform FPGA-based design through a combination of Xilinx and EDA partner solutions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, however, the acquisition represents less than one percent of the total assets of Xilinx as of the end of its fourth quarter ended April3, 2004."

"The Hier technology offers tremendous timing analysis capabilities to Xilinx designers. Combined with the robust design environment of the ISE, designers will be able to achieve the best possible design results with the least time and effort. PlanAhead is currently being used extensively by a large community of designers in support of the latest Xilinx Virtex-II and Spartan-3 device families, and it will support the new Virtex-4 family. Details of what this means to you will be coming soon."

[Editor's Note: We wait with baited breath!]

Concept Engineering and Hier Design Inc. announced a worldwide OEM license agreement to bundle Concept Engineering's Nlview Widget, a Java-based visual debugging software engine, into Hier Design's PlanAheadT hierarchical floorplanning and analysis software. Concept's Nlview engine is the industry-standard schematic generation, viewing, and debugging software for EDA tool developers who develop graphical user interfaces for EDA tools.

Dino Caporossi, Vice President of Marketing at Hier Design, is quoted: "We decided to OEM Concept Engineering's technology into our products because it's the most advanced visualization technology available. We also were able to save development costs, bringing PlanAhead to market much faster than if we had developed our own schematic viewing technology."

Concept Engineering also announced a worldwide OEM license agreement with Silicon Navigator Corp. to bundle Concept Engineering's NlviewQT Widget, a Qt-based visual debugging software engine, into Silicon Navigator's OpenAccess technology for IC timing and placement optimization. Silicon Navigator says it is the first start-up to "embrace" OpenAccess as its database; the company says it is developing components and applications based on OpenAccess. Gerhard Angst, President and CEO of Concept Engineering, is quoted in the Press Release: "Our visualization technology integrates nicely with OpenAccess as an advanced infrastructure for next-generation designs. We are pleased that our products helped Silicon Navigator quickly add visual debugging technology into their new products."

Emulation and Verification Engineering (EVE) has named Maojet Technology Corp. as EVE’s exclusive distributor in Asian region. Maojet is headquartered in Taipei with branch offices in Hsin-Chu City. Ted Tsai, Maojet's General Manager, is quoted in the Press Release: "We have already started to promote EVE ZeBu, and interest is high. Design teams have already been inquiring about the new emulation technology we are offering."

Nassda Corp. announced that Bing Sheu, a Fellow of the IEEE and Nassda's Senior Director of Technology Relationship and Device Modeling, is the recipient of the 2004 IEEE Circuits and Systems (CAS) Society Meritorious Service Award. Per the Press Release: "The Meritorious Service Award honors a person with outstanding long-term service to the welfare of the CAS Society. The award is based on dedication, effort and contributions of a member of the society. Sheu receives this award in recognition of his outstanding long-term service to the welfare of the CAS Society, including his role as Vice-President for Conferences in 1998, President of the CAS Society in 2000, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems in 1997-98, and as Voting Representative to DAC Executive Committee in 2001."

QualCore Logic Inc. announced said that it has become a member of IBM’s IP Collaboration Program, a program which promotes "close working relationships between IBM and leading third-party IP vendors and their ASIC customers, helping to ensure first-time-right designs are completed right the first time, and rapid time to market of chips for advanced electronic systems products for their ASIC customers."

Synfora, Inc. announced the company has joined the Cadence Design Systems Connections program and will be integrating its PICO Express into the Cadence synthesis, simulation, and verification environments. Simon Napper, Synfora's President and CEO, is quoted in the Press Release: "Algorithm-to-tape-out synthesis provides significant productivity benefits. By integrating with Cadence tools, we can give customers a seamless algorithm-to-tape-out flow that can help them ensure faster time to market."