NEC Electronics America Showcases Custom IC Design Expertise at DesignCon 2005

Presentations Examine the Impact of Structured ASICs on 90-nm Design Challenges and Address the Issue of Outsourcing for Custom IC Projects

NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced that it will highlight its strength in custom IC technologies for ASICs and structured ASICs, and deliver two presentations at DesignCon 2005 being held January 31 through February 3 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.  The company also will feature product presentations and demonstrations, including demonstrations of its Instant Silicon Solution Platform™ (ISSP™) structured ASICs, in its booth #317 on the exhibit floor. 

As part of DesignCon’s technical programs, NEC Electronics America and Synplicity, Inc. jointly will present a tutorial that addresses the challenges currently facing designers developing custom ICs in the 90-nm node and also examines how ASIC and EDA vendors can overcome many of these obstacles through collaboration. The second joint presentation, delivered by NEC Electronics America and design service vendor GDA Technologies, will discuss the growing trend for outsourcing custom IC design and the benefits of doing so, including cost and time savings and increased access to a variety of design talent and resources.  The presentation will also explore criteria to consider when choosing a design services company.

In booth #317, NEC Electronics America will showcase its ISSP structured ASICs in 30-minute product presentations that provide information about the benefits of this leading-edge, structured-ASIC technology.  Other products featured in demonstrations and displays at the booth will include embedded DRAM for ASICs and fast SRAM, including QDR and DDR SRAM.

Presentation Overviews

    Topic:  Customized Synthesis for Structured ASICs – Delivering Higher Performance, Quicker Time to
               Market and Reduced Work on the Back End
    Date:  January 31 at 1:30 p.m.
    Presenters:  Stuart Hamilton, director, Design Solutions Center, NEC Electronics America and
             John Gallagher, senior director of ASIC synthesis marketing, Synplicity
    Topic:  Outsourcing Designs for Nimble Product Development
    Date:  February 1 at 10:10 a.m.
    Presenters:  Steven Kawamoto, senior marketing manager, NEC Electronics America and
            Ravi Thummarukudy, vice president and general manager, IC Design Solutions, GDA Technologies

    Topic:  NEC Electronics’ ISSP Structured ASICs
    Location:  NEC Electronics America booth #317
    Date:  February 1 and 2 at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
    Registration:  Seating for these sessions is limited.
            To participate, register online at www.necelam.com/DC05reg.

About ISSP Structured ASICs
The ISSP architecture was designed to serve the growing number of applications that require higher complexity and performance than an FPGA but cannot bear the high development costs associated with cell-based ASICs.  ISSP structured ASICs also offer a compelling time-to-market advantage over cell-based ASICs, with development typically taking as little as four to six months as opposed to the 12 to 18 months required for most cell-based ASICs.  Each NEC Electronics ISSP design begins with a prefabricated master composed of an array of complex multi-gates, embedded IP cores, built-in test circuits, clock domains and power lines.  Two custom metal layers are easily and quickly placed, routed and fabricated to satisfy the unique requirements of each individual design.  ISSP-based products consume much less power than a comparable FPGA and also have lower NRE costs than cell-based ASIC devices.  Currently available families of ISSP structured ASICs include the 150-nm ISSP1-STD and ISSP1-High-Speed Interface (HSI) devices and 90-nm ISSP90 devices. For further information, visit www.necelam.com/issp.

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NEC Electronics, Instant Silicon Solution Platform and ISSP are either registered trademarks or trademarks of NEC Electronics Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.  All other registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners. #11220

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