Press Release

Apache’s Power Closure Sign-Off Flow Enables First-Pass Silicon Success for Airgo Networks

Mountain View, Calif. – April 4, 2005 – Apache Design Solutions, the technology leader in physical power integrity solutions for system-on-chip (SoC) designs, today announced that Airgo Networks, pioneer and world leader of multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) technology used Apache’s RedHawk full-chip dynamic power integrity solution to achieve first-pass silicon success of their 802.11 next generation Wi-Fi chipset. Airgo successfully taped out multiple designs using Apache’s physical power integrity solution.

“RedHawk enabled us to analyze dynamic voltage drop effects in addition to static IR drop analysis, resulting in more robust designs,” said Derrick Lin, senior director of engineering at Airgo. “RedHawk’s ability to accurately detect potential chip failures caused by dynamic power supply noise prior to tape out has provided us with a high degree of confidence in our power grid design. RedHawk is an integral part of our sign-off flow.”

“With over 30 customers and 100 tapeouts worldwide, our physical power integrity solution is making a significant contribution in lowering production cost and increasing manufacturing yield,” stated Andrew Yang, CEO of Apache. “The adoption of our power closure flow by a leading Wi-Fi technology company such as Airgo further reinforces how our solution is addressing the critical missing link in advanced nanometer designs.”

About RedHawk

RedHawk is a full-chip vectorless dynamic physical power integrity solution for SoC power closure sign-off of 130nm, 90nm, and 65nm designs. Certified in TSMC’s 5.0 and 6.0 Reference Flow and correlated with silicon measurements and SPICE, RedHawk addresses dynamic power issues such as simultaneous switching output (SSO) for core, memory, clock, and I/O, as well as the effects of on-chip inductance, package RLC , and decoupling capacitance.

RedHawk enables designers to identify dynamic “hot spots,” examine the impact on timing, accurately pinpoint the cause of dynamic voltage drop, and automatically repair the source of supply noise. With RedHawk’s integrated transistor-level characterization and unsurpassed capacity, designers can effectively reach power closure sign-off for 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 Airgo Networks, Inc.

The founders of Airgo Networks have pioneered a wireless communication technique known as Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). A breakthrough in wireless, MIMO OFDM has been adopted as the foundation for defining the new IEEE 802.11n standard for next generation Wi-Fi(r). Airgo is first-to-market with 802.11a/b/g-compliant MIMO enhanced chipset, software and reference design solutions. Airgo's True MIMO(tm) technology substantially improves performance and reliability, enabling the most bandwidth-intensive applications and eliminating the need for wires at home, at work, and in public places. Founded in January 2001, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto , California , USA . More information is available at http://www.airgonetworks.com/.

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

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