Press Release

Apache’s Physical Power Integrity Flow Adopted by ATI Technologies

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - August 23, 2004 – Apache Design Solutions, the technology leader in physical power integrity solutions for system-on-chip (SoC) designs, today announced that ATI Technologies Inc., a world leader in design and manufacturing of innovative visual processor solutions, has adopted Apache’s full-chip dynamic physical power integrity flow. After an extensive evaluation against other solutions on the market, ATI selected Apache’s RedHawk-SDL for cell-based Dynamic Voltage Drop analysis and transient verification of low power designs. ATI also selected NSPICE-PI for SPICE-accurate global I/O Simultaneous Switching Output (SSO) verification.

“Apache offered the most comprehensive dynamic power solution for our next generation of complex, high-speed graphics designs,” said Bob Patel, Director of Engineering of ATI Technologies Inc. “With RedHawk-SDL’s ability to quickly provide an accurate dynamic current profile, we have a higher degree of confidence in the quality of our power verification flow.”

ATI found traditional methods of static-only IR-drop analysis to be inadequate for their high-performance graphics processor designs. They saw that Apache’s ability to perform full-chip dynamic power analysis, including the effectiveness of decoupling capacitance, and the verification of global I/O SSO, was important for their current and future designs.

“Power integrity is one of the contributors to increases in production cost and reductions in manufacturing yield, and the electronics industry is aggressively looking for a solution that can alleviate this problem,” stated Andrew Yang, CEO of Apache. “Having a recognized technology leader such as ATI adopt our physical power flow demonstrates how our solution is addressing this critical missing link for nanometer designs.”

About RedHawk-SDL

Apache’s flagship RedHawk-SDL is a full-chip Vectorless Dynamic™ physical power integrity solution that fills the critical missing link for physical power flows in 130nm, 90nm, and 65nm SoC designs. Certified by TSMC’s 5.0 Reference Flow and correlated with silicon measurements and SPICE, RedHawk-SDL delivers the most accurate power integrity solution on the market. It addresses dynamic power issues such as simultaneous switching outputs (SSO) for core, memory, clock, and I/O, as well as the effects of on-chip inductance, package RLC , and decoupling capacitance.

RedHawk-SDL delivers cell-based capacity with transistor-level accuracy and is the cornerstone of Apache’s physical power integrity flow. It can be used early in the design flow when physical implementation decisions are being made, and throughout the entire design process. RedHawk-SDL enables designers to examine the timing impact of dynamic voltage drop on high performance SoCs, including those utilizing advanced low-power design techniques such as leakage current control, power gating, multiple voltage domains, and multiple threshold transistors.

About Apache Design Solutions

Apache is an EDA software supplier of innovative next-generation silicon integrity platforms for low-power, high-performance system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. By considering all sources of noise that impacts the design, such as power, signal, package / system IO, substrate, and temperature, Apache’s silicon signoff platform enables designers of leading networking, wireless, communication, consumer, and semiconductor companies to detect, fix, and prevent design weaknesses that can result in reduced yield or failed silicon. Apache’s vendor neutral platform enables designers to adopt any industry’s standard physical design flow and is certified by TSMC’s 5.0 and 6.0 Reference Flow (NYSE: TSM). Apache has direct sales and support offices worldwide with over 40 customers, including 7 of the top 10 semiconductor companies.

About ATI Technologies Inc.

ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world’s foremost visual processor unit (VPU) provider and is dedicated to deliver leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld markets. With 2003 revenues in excess of US $1.3 billion, ATI has more than 2,500 employees in the Americas , Europe and Asia . ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ ( ATYT ) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).

Apache Design Solutions, NSPICE, RedHawk, PsiWinder, and Vectorless Dynamic are trademarks of Apache Design Solutions, Inc.

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