Agilent Technologies Announces Strategic Partnership with Mentor Graphics on Automotive Network Design, Test and Validation Tools

Agilent to License LIN, CAN Test and Validation Products from Mentor Graphics

STUTTGART, Germany, Automotive Testing Expo 2007, Booth 5828, Hall 5, May 8, 2007 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced a strategic partnership with Mentor Graphics (NASDAQ: MENT), licensing to Agilent certain products in the Mentor Graphics Volcano® product line. The Agilent LIN Tester, derived from Mentor's Volcano LIN Spector™ product, and the Agilent Vehicle Protocol Tester Series 500, derived from Mentor's Volcano TELLUS® product, help automotive engineers develop electronic products faster and under budget while meeting quality requirements.

The strategic partnership allows Agilent to provide a more complete solution for automotive customers:

  • Agilent now provides test and validation tools beyond the
    physical layer up to the protocol layer, addressing the increasing
    complexity of the vehicle network topology and the need for higher
    network bandwidth and higher reliability;
  • The Mentor Graphics workflow allows an engineer to design a
    vehicle network to correctness by capturing and validating high-level
    requirements in the early design phase, then automate the generation of
    the communication matrix. This enables a predictable and guaranteed data
    communications implemented by embedded software; and
  • Customers using the Mentor Graphics vehicle network design tools
    with the Agilent Tester will get immediate validation results.

"Mentor Graphics' extensive vehicle protocol analysis and node emulation products complement Agilent's leading physical layer test tools," said Roland Jeutter, automotive business manager at Agilent Technologies Germany. "Customers using Mentor Graphics' vehicle network design tools with the Agilent test and validation products will be able to easily verify complex signal chains and network/signal timings."

"Our partnership with Agilent allows us to focus on our core competencies, the network and electronic design tool and embedded software for AUTOSAR and beyond," said Joachim Langenwalter, director, Automotive Networking Business Unit at Mentor Graphics Germany. "With Agilent, the market leader in test and measurement solutions, our customers will gain a continuous flow combining the best technologies, from design thorough implementation all the way to test and validation, far beyond classical protocol test."

Agilent is demonstrating its new products here this week:

  • The Agilent 500 Series vehicle protocol tester (VPT501): The VPT501 comes with an intuitive PC software application, providing easy network timing checks, signal chain analysis across multiple networks and physical I/Os, complemented by standalone data logging. The VPT501 has the following interfaces:
    • 2x CAN, 2x LIN;
    • 8x digital I/Os; and
    • 100MBps Ethernet link to PC.
  • The Agilent LIN Tester: This is a highly flexible analysis and emulation tool used for the testing and validation of LIN communication systems. The tool is divided into two components: an external hardware portion and a PC-based software portion. It supports both 12V and 24V designs. Some of the highlights are:
    • Full master / slave capabilities of one or more nodes;
    • LIN 2.0 compliant; and
    • LIN Go editor to handle graphical objects.

U.S. Pricing and Availability
The Agilent J8115A LIN Tester will be available in July 2007. Pricing starts at $5,900. The Agilent J8120A Vehicle Protocol Tester (VPT501) will be available in the third calendar quarter of 2007. Pricing for the J8120A starts at $9,800. More information about Agilent

For additional information on Mentor Graphics and its automotive offerings, go to www.mentor.com/solutions/automotive/.

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, semiconductor and transportation companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $700 million and employs approximately 3,950 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon USA 97070-7777. The company has more than 70 offices worldwide, including Detroit, Munich and Tokyo. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

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

For more information, please contact:

James Price
Mentor Graphics
+44 161 926 1637
james_price@mentor.com

Suzanne Graham
Mentor Graphics
503.685.7789
suzanne_graham@mentor.com  

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