Magma's FineSim SPICE Chosen by Technology Leaders & Innovators as Standard for Verification of Large Analog IP Designs

FineSim SPICE's Scalable, Multi-CPU Capabilities Proven to Deliver Over 10X Faster Runtime Than Multi-Threaded Products

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Magma^® Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of chip design software, announced today that Technology Leaders & Innovators (TLi), a global provider of consumer electronics products, has standardized on FineSim^™ SPICE for verification of large analog IP designs. TLi selected the Magma software after results of an exhaustive evaluation of a number of commercially available SPICE simulation products showed that FineSim SPICE, with its scalable multi-CPU capabilities, delivered runtime that was an order of magnitude faster than traditional multi-threaded simulators.

"We design many different types of analog circuits, including PLLs, ADC/DACs and high speed I/Os, that require extremely precise simulation during the design phase," said Soon-Won Hong, vice president at TLi. "Through our evaluation, we found that FineSim SPICE provides 10 times faster simulation on a single CPU than other solutions, while meeting our accuracy requirements. Even more impressive was the scalable multi-CPU capability: we achieved better than 10 times faster simulation than conventional multi-threaded SPICE simulators. This dramatic speedup enables us to verify very large, post-layout, top-level netlists in SPICE, improving accuracy and allowing us to design and tape out with much more confidence in achieving first-pass silicon success."

"Enabled by Magma's Native Parallel Technology^™, FineSim SPICE offers significantly higher capacity and truly scalable multi-CPU performance while delivering silicon-accurate results," said Anirudh Devgan, general manager of Magma's Custom Design Business Unit. "By ensuring first-time right silicon on large designs, FineSim SPICE helps customers like TLi reduce design and manufacturing costs and increase profit margins."

FineSim SPICE: Simulating Advanced Circuits

FineSim SPICE is a SPICE-level simulation analysis tool that incorporates transistor-level simulation analysis capabilities for mixed-digital and analog designs. FineSim SPICE is a full SPICE simulation engine with distributed processing that enables customers to simulate large-scale mixed-signal system chips at the transistor level. By providing increased speed and capacity while maintaining full SPICE accuracy, FineSim SPICE enables designers to simulate advanced circuits -- such as PLLs, ADCs (analog-to-digital converters), DACs (digital-to-analog converters) and gigahertz SERDES (SERializers/DESerializers) -- that they previously would not even attempt using slower traditional SPICE simulators.

About Magma

Magma's electronic design automation (EDA) software is used to create complex, high-performance integrated circuits (ICs) for cellular telephones, electronic games, WiFi, MP3 players, DVD/digital video, networking, automotive electronics and other electronic applications. Magma products for IC implementation, analog/mixed-signal design, analysis, physical verification, circuit simulation and characterization are recognized as embodying the best in semiconductor technology, providing the world's top chip companies the "Fastest Path to Silicon^™." Magma maintains headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and offices throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Magma's stock trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol LAVA. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.

Magma is a registered trademark, and "Fastest Path to Silicon" and FineSim are trademarks of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Forward-looking statements:

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release including statements that FineSim SPICE provides better accuracy and faster runtime than other circuit simulation products, shortens turnaround time and reduces development costs are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including but not limited to Magma's ability to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and the company's products' abilities to produce desired results and TLi's decision to continue using FineSim SPICE. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in Magma's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Magma undertakes no additional obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACT:  Magma Design Automation Inc.
          Monica Marmie, Director, Marketing Communications
          (408) 565-7689
          mmarmie@magma-da.com