( ESNUG 492 Item 7 ) -------------------------------------------- [09/20/11]
Subject: Calypto finally spells out the details behind Catapult C merger
> "Effective on August 31, 2011, the High Level Synthesis organization,
> which produces Catapult C, will become part of a new entity with
> Calypto Design Systems."
>
> - from http://www.deepchip.com/wiretap/110825.html
From: Shawn McCloud <smccloud=user domain=calypto got calm>
Hi John,
The recent discussions on DeepChip.com around Mentor's decision to merge
Catapult C Synthesis with Calypto Design Systems show clearly how nature
abhors a vacuum. Or is it that competitors love a vacuum so they can use it
to further their own personal agendas?
In any case, DeepChip does the industry a service by allowing this normally
behind-the-scenes FUD to be brought out into the open, so that it can be
corrected.
Below are the facts related to Catapult and Calypto joining forces:
1. Catapult is the market leader:
Per Gary Smith EDA, the most consistent and reliable source for
reporting EDA industry market share, Catapult C Synthesis has been the
High Level Synthesis (HLS) market leader for 5 years running, growing
to its most recent 47% market share (Gary Smith September 2011), which
is over 50% bigger than the next largest HLS vendor. A snapshot of
previous market share data can be found on Cooley's site (DAC 10 #5).
Further, 2010 was a record year for Catapult and our last 4 quarters
have each surpassed our all-time best quarters ever in terms of
revenue. Simply put, Catapult is doing great!
2. Catapult is thriving with both its C++ and SystemC input languages:
Catapult initially built its market leadership on C++ Synthesis because
it provides a concise untimed abstraction ideal for compute intensive
hardware found in wireless, video, and image processing applications.
Catapult's C++ synthesis has well over 500 ASIC tapeouts. In addition
to C++ Synthesis, Catapult shipped is first production release of
SystemC synthesis in July 2010 to extend its capabilities into SoC
platforms. Specifically, SystemC synthesis enabled users to explicitly
define in the source hierarchy, SoC interconnect, complex IO, and low
level control blocks. Users have written into ESNUG highlighting
Catapult's SystemC results: ESNUG 491 #4, ESNUG 488 #10. Additionally,
numerous users have chimed in on their successful deployment of
CatC++ synthesis: 486 #2, 485 #8, 483 #8, 481 #7, 480 #6, 477 #3.
3. Both existing and new Catapult customers will continue to receive our
same strong technical support:
Our Catapult organization retained 100% of the original technology team
and is setup to continue the superior support and technology leadership
to our customers as part of Calypto. Because Mentor also has a strong
commitment to customer support, the transition will be smooth -
companies which purchased Catapult through Mentor can still call their
Mentor support channel directly and will have direct line access to
Catapult experts from Calypto organization.
Mentor had, and continues to have, a stake in Calypto. With this recent
move, Mentor becomes one of Calypto's largest shareholders, and thus in
Catapult.
Mentor promoted Catapult from its inception to its 47% market leadership
position. This recent business move clearly indicates a belief that all
three organizations - Mentor, Calypto, and the Catapult group - will be
stronger and better set up for continued success with the Catapult team
joining forces with Calypto.
Of course, designers always want the tool to be better, but what we're
hearing is they want an ESL flow which is complete and dependable. It isn't
just about the synthesis tool - though we think we have a great one. It's
about the combination of synthesis, static verification, dynamic
verification, and power. That's why it makes sense for us to join forces
with Calypto and integrate with their tool set.
The new combined organization provides Catapult with additional technology
advantages in terms of a complete ESL flow:
Reduced Verification and Design Time:
With the merger, we will deliver tight integration between Catapult C
Synthesis and Calypto SLEC, the industry's only C++/SystemC to RTL formal
equivalence technology. This integration will go even beyond what was
already posted in ESNUG 478 #9 to further productize 'C to RTL' formal
equivalence checking which is critical to successful HLS deployment.
'Reduced verification effort' is still the driving force behind the
adoption of High Level Synthesis as shown in our blind HLS survey - for 3
years running: ESNUG 479 #4, ESNUG 486 #7, ESNUG 488 #4. Integration
between Catapult and Calypto's SLEC - C to RTL formal equivalence product
is key to realizing this verification benefit.
Deliver the Next Generation Low Power Flow:
Coupling Catapult with Calypto's Power Pro automatic memory gating and
clock gating technology will deliver a next generation flow to optimize
area, performance and power across the entire SoC platform. There are
many things to be excited about with the combined company but this is
certainly one of the biggest.
Even Better Synthesis Results:
Calypto's roots are in RTL synthesis, with many of the founders from
Ambit, which focused on ASIC RTL Synthesis. Calypto has already developed
rapid RTL synthesis estimation as part of its Power Optimization products.
This technology uses data from Synopsys Liberty format to do global
technology mapping and datapath architecture selection to provide fast
estimation for area, delay, and power. Integrating this RTL synthesis
estimation technology under the Catapult engine will further enhance
Catapult's runtime analysis which ultimately means even better QoR.
Delivering a Full ESL Flow:
Mentor's stake in Calypto will allow us to continue to offer customers a
complete ESL flow encompassing design and verification. We will continue
to build on Mentor's recent announcement on TLM synthesis which provides a
single source methodology across Catapult, Mentor's Vista Virtual Platform
and Questa verification platform.
Calypto's vision is to bring ESL to the mainstream designer. We remain
fully committed to our existing industry partners to make our joint
customers successful. The Catapult team is excited about the opportunity to
work internally with other Calypto teams to develop next generation,
integrated flows, so that mainstream engineers can readily deploy ESL in
their SoC design flows.
- Shawn McCloud
Calypto Design Systems Santa Clara, CA
Join
Index
Next->Item
|
|
