IN THE NEWS

Business and technology news from the semiconductor and design tool industries.

In the News

Synchronicity Inc. (Boston, MA) announced it closed a $3.1 million round of funding. Its lead investor is Canaan Partners (Rowayton, CT, and Menlo Park, CA). Also participating are Synchronicity's first-round investor Wheatley Partners LP and key industry executives. The company, which is developing design management groupware for the electronics and EDA industries, will use the funds for general working capital, product development, and sales distribution.

Duet Technologies (San Jose, CA) announced that the company's research and development facility in India has received ISO 9001 certification from the Directorate, Department of Electronics, Government of India.

Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, WA) and Tandem Computers Inc. (Cupertino, CA) demonstrated the largest Windows NT Server network operating system-based system. The system linked 64 Pentium Pro processors in a cluster using Tandem's ServerNet interconnect technology. The system managed a 2-Tbyte database with a 300-billion-row table based on Dayton-Hudson's data warehouse, which manages retail outlets such as Target and Mervyn's stores.

Micrel Semiconductor (San Jose, CA) announced the establishment of a custom/semicustom design center in conjunction with SICAN GmbH . The new center was established as the approved European Design Center for Micrel's custom services and to support its semicustom integrated circuits in the European market.

The Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC; San Jose, CA) announced the availability of its complete Market Statistics Service (MSS) report for 1996. The report states that the industry generated $2.308 billion in new license and service revenues in 1996. In the fourth quarter of 1996, EDA companies reported increased revenues in the three major application areas: CAE, PCB & MCM layout, and IC layout. Combined, EDA product and maintenance revenues were $577 million for the quarter, a 29 percent increase over the same period in 1995. Compared with 1995, total worldwide 1996 new license and maintenance revenues grew over 29 percent, reaching $2.081 billion. Design services, newly reported, account for the remainder.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (San Jose, CA) announced that its merger with Cooper & Chyan Technology Inc. (CCT; Cupertino, CA) was consummated on May 7. The merger addresses one of the most critical aspects of next-generation electronic product design: how the elements contained on leading-edge silicon chips and printed circuit boards are designed and connected together. With the completion of the merger, the two companies can immediately focus on enhancing the interoperability of their tools. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission accepted Cadence's agreement to comply with a consent order calling for Cadence to expand its Connections Program to enable independent software developers to provide interfaces to Cadence's IC design tools.

Although the semiconductor book-to-bill ratio is expected to have dropped in April and May, it still indicates healthy sales, a view that is supported by the strong figures for semiconductor equipment.

Movers and Shakers

Mike Robinson has joined Integrated System Design as managing editor.

Shoichiro Yoshida, executive vice president of Nikon Corp. (Japan), has been appointed vice chairman of the board of directors of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI; Mountain View, CA) for the 1997-1998 term. Yoshida is the first Japanese vice chairman of the SEMI board. He assumes his position during what some industry observers consider the most significant industrial transition ever--the move to 300-mm wafer technology.

Precedence Inc. (Campbell, CA) appointed Tedd Corman director of systems business development. He will be responsible for evaluating new applications of existing technology and helping to set the strategic direction for future product development. In addition, he will help maintain and strengthen current relationships with OEMs, partners, and major accounts.

Ikos Systems Inc. (Cupertino, CA) announced the appointment of Robert Hum as vice president of engineering. Hum will be responsible for the company's hardware and software engineering. He comes to Ikos from Cadence Design Systems, where he served in several senior business and technical management positions.

The board of directors of the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC; Austin, TX) has named Albert E. Wargo president and COO. Wargo came to MCC in April 1996 as vice president of corporate development from Harris Corp. (Melbourne, FL). MCC recently announced the opening of a West Coast Labs in San Jose and the approval of the first non-North American member company, Nokia, as an MCC member.

Interra Inc. (San Jose, CA) announced that it has named Richard Curtin vice president of sales and marketing. Curtin brings more than 19 years of sales, marketing, and engineering experience in the EDA, electronics, and computer industries.

Actel Corp. (Sunnyvale, CA) has appointed Robert Smith as vice president of software. Dr. Smith will oversee and coordinate program development and timing issues within the company's high-level design, system software, and physical design teams. He has a background in software development engineering.

Opmaxx Inc. (Beaverton, OR) announced the appointment of Craig Wentzel as vice president of sales and Daniel Payne as product marketing manager. Wentzel will manage all North American sales operations, and Payne will be responsible for the company's analog design and test automation product marketing activities.

Ralph Zak , a 15-year CAD/EDA industry veteran, joined Aptix Corp. as vice president of marketing. Zak will have responsibility for all corporate, technical, product, and strategic marketing efforts.

Vantis, the programmable logic spin-off of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., announced that Richard H. Forte has been appointed CEO, expanding his responsibilities as president of the subsidiary. The company also announced the appointment of Rich Previte, AMD's president and COO, as chairman of the Vantis board.

Money Bits

The board of directors of Hewlett-Packard Co. (Palo Alto, CA) approved an increase of the quarterly dividend on the company's common stock to $0.14 from $0.12 per share. The board also declared a dividend, payable on July 9, to shareholders of record as of June 18, at the new rate.

Rambus Inc. (Mountain View, CA) announced its initial public offering of common stock on the Nasdaq National Market under the trading symbol RMBS. The initial public offering price for the 2.75 million shares of common stock offered by the company was $12 per share. The underwriters have an option to purchase up to an additional 412,500 shares at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any. Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Hambrecht & Quist LLC, and Robertson, Stephens & Co. LLC co-managed the offering.

Editorial Call

Integrated System Design will run a Focus Report on ATE and DFT tools in the September issue. If you wish to be listed in the table, please contact Michael Santarini by June 16 at (415) 903-0148 or at michael@asic.com.

To voice an opinion on this or any Integrated System Design article, please e-mail your message to: michael@asic.com.

integrated system design  July 1997