Mentor Graphics Announces Synthesis Support For Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs

WILSONVILLE, Ore., September 14, 2004 - Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT), today announced that its suite of advanced synthesis products will support  the  newly introduced Virtex-4 field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) from Xilinx, Inc. Customers who use the Precision® RTL or LeonardoSpectrum^TM tools can now immediately request software that supports the full range of Virtex-4 devices, while the Precision® Physical tool, the advanced physical synthesis solution from Mentor Graphics, offers beta-level support. Xilinx and Mentor Graphics have collaborated over the past year to ensure mutual customers will have support from both companies upon the release of the ISE 6.3i place and route software for Virtex 4 from Xilinx.

"Capitalizing on the performance and capabilities that Virtex-4 devices offer requires customers to adopt the advanced design, analysis and synthesis techniques we integrate into all of our products," said Simon Bloch, general manager, Design Creation and Synthesis Division, Mentor Graphics. "It was important for us to provide comprehensive Virtex-4 device support to our customers, across our entire family of FPGA synthesis tools, as soon as possible. Whether coming to Virtex-4 from the ASIC world, from other FPGA vendors or from lower performance Xilinx parts, customers should be able to use their familiar tools like Precision Synthesis and LeonardoSpectrum to manage their ever increasing complexity challenges and time-to-market demands."

Both companies started joint work in April 2003. Initial Precision RTL Synthesis support has been available in a limited release form since as early as January 2004.

"Mentor Graphics is a key supplier for FPGA users and having their support for our new Virtex-4 family is very important to our mutual customers," said Steve Lass, director of software product marketing, Xilinx.  "We have closely collaborated in both the LeonardoSpectrum and Precision Synthesis testing efforts, and are confident that these and other advanced Mentor Graphics products will enable designers to fully realize the benefits delivered in the revolutionary Virtex-4 FPGA architecture."
 
The Precision Synthesis tool suite integrates logical (Precision RTL) and physical (Precision Physical) synthesis techniques to define a new approach to complex FPGA design.  Built on a unified data model, it allows designers to cross-probe between multiple views, giving users added control when analyzing a design. The intuitive debug environment includes an incremental timing analysis tool that allows companies to solve next-generation FPGA implementation and timing challenges, resulting in shorter design cycles and significantly higher performance. The LeonardoSpectrum tool from Mentor Graphics is the mature, industry-proven synthesis product for both FPGA and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design.

About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $600 million and employs approximately 3,800 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

About Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is the worldwide leader of programmable logic and programmable system solutions. Additional information about Xilinx is available at www.xilinx.com.

Mentor Graphics, Precision and Leonardo are registered trademarks and LeonardoSpectrum is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

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For more information, please contact:
Debra Layton Mentor Graphics 720.494.1043 debra_layton@mentor.com	Emily Taylor Weber Shandwick 503.552.3733 etaylor@webershandwick.com