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Hot off the wires ...

"Synopsys Closes Nassda Acquisition"
"Litigation Successfully Concluded"

"MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS), a world leader in semiconductor design software, today announced it has closed its acquisition of Nassda Corporation, a provider of full-chip circuit verification software for complex nanometer semiconductors.

"The addition of the Nassda products to our simulation product portfolio fortifies our analog/mixed-signal offering with complementary products and strong engineering talent," said Raul Camposano, senior vice president and general manager, Silicon Engineering Group, Synopsys, Inc. "Going forward, Synopsys will continue to focus on growing our analog mixed-signal business and integrating operations to support both the Synopsys NanoSim(R) simulator and the Nassda HSIM(R) product family."

Editor's Note: Clearly whoever composed this brief Press Release presumed the reader would know what litigation was successfully concluded and how it related to this particular acquisition.

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"The organizers of the 42nd Design Automation Conference announced that Kathryn Kranen, President and CEO of Jasper Design Automation Inc., will be presented with the prestigious Marie R. Pistilli Women in EDA Achievement Award on June 13, 2005 during DAC's Workshop for Women in EDA. The annual award, named for DAC's former organizer Marie Pistilli, recognizes outstanding contributions to the ongoing advancement of women in the EDA industry.

The Press Release adds: "Known for her 'no boundaries' philosophy, Kranen has a history of personal and professional excellence that has inspired many other accomplished women and men in the semiconductor industry and related fields. Kranen has more than 15 years of industry experience and a track record for leading uniquely successful EDA companies."

"Prior to taking the lead role at functional formal verification software provider Jasper Design Automation, Kranen launched Verisity Design, Inc., in her capacity as president and CEO. Verisity later became a public company and was recognized as the top-performing IPO of 2001. Prior to Verisity, Kranen rose rapidly through the sales ranks at Quickturn Systems, pioneer of the $100M microprocessor emulation market, and eventually held the position of vice president of North American Sales. She began her career as a design engineer at Rockwell International after graduating summa cum laude from Texas A&M University with a BSEE."

Editor's Note: Please join me at the DAC Pavilion on Tuesday, June 14th, at 1:00 PM where I will be moderating a discussion with Jasper Design's Kathryn Kranen, Telle Whitney of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, and Alisa Yaffa of Synplicity, Inc.

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** IMEC in Belgium says it has formed the Center for Advanced Learning in Information Technologies (CALIT) to provide a platform for high-level events and training programs that focus on visionary and interdisciplinary themes.

Per the Press Release: "IMEC's goal is to create an authoritative international school where executives, policy-makers, scientists and engineers can meet to exchange views on topics of future interest to the global community. The Center for Advanced Learning in Information Technologies is a new initiative from IMEC's Microelectronics Training Center (MTC). CALIT will create events and courses - such as one-day visionary symposia, brainstorm sessions and schools - in which societal-relevancy and cross-disciplinarity are central themes. CALIT is structured for attendees from around the world who will gather to lead high-level discussions on specific themes. IMEC launched a pilot program of events in 2004 to examine the convergence between nano- and biosciences. Following a visionary seminar and workshop, a summer course was organized on biosensor technology for engineers."

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** Virtual Silicon Technology, Inc. has launched a contest. To participate, you need to submit an SoC clocking applications using the company's Mobilize Delta Sigma Fractional-N Digital Frequency Synthesizer PLL. If your design is selected, you may go on to win an IP license and Apple iPods. The grand prize, a free license for the IP, will be selected from the pool of designs that successfully uses the DFS PLL IP. Drawings will be held once a month between June and November 2005.

Les Wilson, Director of Marketing for Virtual Silicon, says there's no reason to hold back: "This is a virtually no-lose situation. If you submit a valid design that can’t use our DFS PLL IP, off-the-shelf, you will be entered in to a drawing to win an iPod 20GB Digital Music Player. If you submit a valid design that can use the IP you will be entered to win an iPod Shuffle."

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** Ambric Inc. has announced that Howard Bubb has been named CEO and Chairman of the company's Board of Directors. Previously, Bubb was a Vice President and General manager of Intel's Communication Infrastructure Group. Bubb joined Intel by way of Intel's acquisition of Dialogic Corp. where he was President and CEO. Prior to Dialogic, Bubb was at Telenova, a subsidiary of Lexar, and had various management positions at United Technologies, Memorex, and Telex Corp. Bubb has an MSEE from Cal Tech in Pasadena, CA.

** Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that Jennifer Jordan has been named Corporate Vice President of Investor Relations, reporting to Senior Vice President & CFO Bill Porter. Previously, Jordan was with Wells Fargo Securities as a Senior Vice President and Senior Equity Research Analyst covering technical and entertainment software.

** Pulsic Ltd. announced three new appointments within the company:

Kevin Steptoe has been named Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Pulsic. Most recently, he was at Magma Design Automation as vice president of product engineering. Previously, Steptoe held management positions at Avant and Cadence Design Automation. Overall, he has 20+ years in the industry.

Keith Sabine has been named as Applications Director in Europe for Pulsic. Most recently, he was at In2Fab Technology as technical director. Sabine has also served in technical management roles at Simplex and Cadence Design Systems. Early on in his career, he worked in IC design at Plessey, BP, and Fairchild. Sabine has a PhD in semiconductor physics.

Richard Pearce has been appointed as an Applications Engineer at Pulsic. Previously, he worked in IC design and layout at various European semiconductor companies, including STMicroelectronics, Infineon and Philips.

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** Accent Srl and Giga Scale Integration Corp. that Giga Scale IC has joined Accent's "Highway to Silicon" Alliance Programme. Per the Press Release: "Accent's 'Highway to Silicon' Alliance Programme creates and maintains well-established relationships with leading organizations and technology providers to offer end-to-end services to customers. These relationships allow Accent's clients to benefit from both leading and emerging technologies, thereby helping them to deliver their products on time and with the proper level of quality."

** FishTail Design Automation, Inc. announced it has joined both Mentor Graphics' OpenDoor Program and the ModelSim Value Added Partnership Program. The companies say the memberships will provide joint customers with integration between FishTail’s Focus and Mentor Graphics 0-In and ModelSim products.

Ajay Daga, Founder and CEO of FishTail, is quoted: "Our customers have articulated the importance of being able to leverage their investment in simulation and property-checking tools to also verify timing exceptionss. Being a part of Mentor’s partner programs has allowed us to build a robust interface for the assertion-based verification of timing exceptions using ModelSim and 0-In. The interface is available today."

** Open Core Protocol International Partnership (OCP-IP) announced that the System Integration and IP Authoring Center (SIPAC) has become a member. The launch of a Korean website was also announced, which would allow Korean visitors to access the organization's information and materials in their native language, therefore eliminating translation barriers. OCP-IP says that SIPAC helped with creation of materials for the website.

The Press Release includes this additional info: "SIPAC was established in 2001 with the help of the Korean Intellectual Property Office and is becoming the headquarters for all Korean IP business. SIPAC’s mission is to build infrastructure for creation, assessment, and Internet based trading, of IP as well as legal and technical protection of IP. SIPAC is leading a new movement to reconstruct the Korean semiconductor industry from memory-dependent business to SoC. SIPAC believes in the proven power of both technological and transactional standards. As a result the missions of both SIPAC and OCP-IP are clearly aligned and make for a powerful partnership."

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** Applied Wave Research, Inc. (AWR) announced what it calls "record sales and revenue with the closure of fiscal year 2005, ending March 31. Key achievements included: major product upgrades and shipments, strategic new customer accounts, expansion of existing accounts, the addition of key EDA partners, and continued expansion of AWR's research and development efforts and sales and support networks. AWR achieved the company's sixth consecutive year of double digit growth in bookings, while also returning to profitability after several years of significant investments to expand into new markets."

** Monolithic System Technology, Inc. (MoSys) reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2005. "Total net revenue for the first quarter of 2005 was $2.7 million, compared to the $1.2 million reported in the previous quarter and $4.5 million in first quarter of 2004. Total net revenue consisted of $1.2 million from licensing, $1.5 million in royalties and approximately $4,000 in product revenue. Licensing revenue for the quarter increased significantly from the $118,000 reported in the fourth quarter of 2004, but decreased from the $3.0 million that was reported in the same period a year ago. First quarter royalty revenues were favorably impacted by the inclusion of royalties from four new licensees, increasing from $1.1 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2004 and from $1.4 million in the same period last year. The minimal product revenue reflects the Company's strategic move away from discrete product sales. The gross margin percentage in the first quarter of 2005 was 83%, compared to 55% in the fourth quarter of 2004 and 88% in the first quarter of 2004. Net loss for the quarter was $1.4 million, or ($0.04) per share, compared to a net loss of $521,000, or ($0.02) per share, in the same period last year and a net loss of $2.4 million, or ($0.08) per share, in the previous quarter."

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** Magma Design Automation Inc. announced that the company filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, attaching a motion to Un-Designate Confidentiality of Deposition Transcript of Dr. Lukas van Ginneken. This motion, which was served on Magma on May 4, 2005, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington by counsel for Dr. Lukas van Ginneken. Dr. van Ginneken, a former Magma employee and a one-time defendant in the litigation, was deposed on April 26 and 27, 2005 in Seattle, Washington. Dr. van Ginneken's deposition was taken in connection with the ongoing patent litigation filed by Synopsys, Inc. against Magma on Sept. 17, 2004 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Magma supports this motion.

** Synopsys, Inc. confirmed its ownership of inventions in two patents Magma Design Automation, Inc. has asserted against Synopsys. In discovery responses on file with the court, Magma has admitted that:

-- Dr. van Ginneken conceived of 39 inventions in Patent No. 6,453,446
(issued to Magma in 2002) while employed at Synopsys, and

-- Dr. van Ginneken conceived of 17 inventions in Patent No. 6,725,438
(issued to Magma in 2004) while employed at Synopsys.

Synopsys also announced it is releasing the deposition of Dr. van Ginneken conducted by Magma attorneys on April 26, 2005, and by Synopsys attorneys on April 27, 2005. Certain portions Magma has designated confidential are not being released.

** Editor's Note: If you're either studying for the LSAT or have way too much time on your hands, you can read some of the actual documents related to the case on the Synopsys website.