* Avnet ASIC Israel (AAI) and Elliptic announced a joint effort the companies say will “bring Elliptic's portfolio of security solutions to market in Israel. AAI is a premier provider of ASIC, structured ASIC, COT, and FPGA design services.”

* Cadence Design Systems announced the opening of its second office in Russia, which the company says is: “the latest in a series of strategic investments by Cadence. The office will be located in Zelenograd, “the center of the Russian semiconductor industry … Employees there will focus on providing Cadence Services, and the office will serve as a center of excellence for Cadence virtual CAD services (VCAD). Per the Press Release: “In 2004, Cadence became the first EDA company to open an R&D center in Moscow. The company now employs 140+ engineers to develop technologies that raise the standard of Russian electronic design excellence.”

Wolf-Ekkehard Matzke, Cadence Fellow in charge of the Services business in EMEA, is quoted: "We are very excited to be part of the growing ecosystem in Zelenograd.” Gennady Krasnikov, General Director of JSC Mikron, a Russian fab, is also quoted: "Locating in Zelenograd puts Cadence in close touch to leading Russian IC developers and manufacturers. We are looking forward to working closely with Cadence in the future.”

* The Interoperable PCell Libraries (IPL) initiative announced an “open invitation” to semiconductor companies, foundries, IDMs, and EDA companies to join IPL's three newest technical working groups. IPL says the groups would like interested participants to “contribute to standards on Properties and Parameters, Pcells, and Constraints. The IPL initiative, formed in April 2007 to address PCell interoperability issues, has expanded its charters to address broader interoperability issues with foundry process design kits (PDK) and design flows.”

* Mentor Graphics announced that it has joined the Multicore Association consortium as an executive board member. Let the Press Release remind you: “The Multicore Association is a global non-profit organization focused on developing standards that help speed time to market for products that involve multicore implementations … The Multicore Association supports the multicore ecosystem including vendors of processor IP, multicore chips, operating systems, hardware design and software development tools, as well as application and system developers.”

Multicore Association President Markus Levy is quoted: “As a company that is deeply entrenched in the industry, Mentor Graphics makes a notable addition to the Multicore Association’s Executive Board Mentor’s experience in this industry will help guide this consortium in delivering the most beneficial standards for multicore applications.”

* Nascentric, Inc. announced that NOAH Corp. has been named Nascentric’s exclusive distributor in Japan. Per the Press Release: “NOAH Corporation will provide sales and technical support for Nascentric multithreaded Fast-SPICE product.”

* OneSpin Solutions KK announced it has expanded operations in Japan by moving into a new sales and field applications engineering office in Yokohama. OneSpin also announced it has hired additional field-application staff to support customers onsite.

* OPTIMUM announced that Everett Frank has been named Vice President and General Manager. Per the Press Release: “Everett has been a very important part of OPTIMUM for the past year serving as a part-time consultant, primarily focused on the implementation and continued enhancement of OPTIMUM’s ERP system, as well as helping develop the Program Management and Supply Chain Management departments.”

* Pulsic Ltd. announced that it has appointed Keiichi Watanabe to its advisory board to aid in expanding business opportunities in Japan and Asia. Previously, Watanabe was Vice President for Cadence Japan, and President and CEO of Zuken Redac Inc. a company he took public on the Tokyo stock market. Watanabe also served as President and CEO of Mentor Japan.

* Synplicity announced that the company has joined the Xilinx ESL Initiative. Per the Press Release: “The addition of the Synplify DSP software to the Xilinx ESL design ecosystem underscores the commitment of Xilinx … toward driving technological innovations and solutions that promote high-level, ESL design.”

* Tech Source Media, Inc. announced SCDsource, described as “the first online media outlet dedicated to helping system and chip design decision makers make better informed design and purchasing decisions. The new publication is focused on meeting the critical business and technical information needs of system and chip design engineers.” Richard Goering has been named editor-in-chief of the new publication.

Francine Bacchini, Founder, President and CEO of Tech Source Media, is quoted in the Press Release: “I feel extremely fortunate to be able to channel my business passion for the EDA and semiconductor industries into SCDsource, and to have Richard Goering – with his vast industry knowledge and experience, and fair and balanced reporting – at the helm as editor-in-chief. I envision SCDsource as the high-tech information port of call for the vital EDA and semiconductor communities that so often work without fanfare, contributing the driving technology behind all of the electronic devices we depend on in our daily lives.”

* In other publishing news: Serving in a capacity adjacent to his role as industry pundit, ESNUG’s John Cooley is conducting a survey to determine how folks feel about Synopsys, the company and its tools. If you’re interested in adding your 2 cents, visit DeepChip and follow the instructions there.

**********************

Money Matters …

* Ansoft Corp. announced financial results for Q2 of fiscal 2008, ended October 31, 2007. Per the Press Release: “Revenue for the second quarter totaled $23.4 million, an increase of 14% compared to $20.5 million reported in the previous fiscal year's second quarter. On a GAAP basis, net income for the second quarter was $5.2 million, representing a 41% increase when compared to GAAP net income of $3.7 million in the previous fiscal year's second quarter. GAAP net income for second quarter includes employee stock-based compensation expense of $0.3 million. This compares to employee stock-based compensation expense of $0.6 million in the previous fiscal year's second quarter.”

* Mentor Graphics Corp. announced that Q3 fiscal 2008 results will be below guidance issued on August 23, 2007. Revenue is expected to be approximately $185 million versus guidance of $200 million and non-GAAP earnings are expected to be slightly below break-even as compared to a previously estimated $.10 per share.

* Virage Logic Corp. reported its financial results for Q4 and the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007. Per the Press Release: “Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 were $13.1 million compared to $11.3 million in the previous quarter and $15.0 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006. License revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 was $9.9 million compared to $8.2 million for the previous quarter and $11.3 million for the same period a year ago. Royalties for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 were $3.2 million compared to $3.1 million in the previous quarter and $3.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006.”

* X-FAB Silicon Foundries reported sales for Q3 2007 were approximately 82% higher than those for Q3 2006, increasing from $60 million in Q3 2006 to $109.1 million in Q3 2007. For the fiscal year to date, X-FAB says it generated sales of $295.3 million, up approximately 74% year-over-year. X-FAB Sarawak was included in the comparative figures of the previous year as of September 1, 2006. X-FAB Dresden was included as a consolidated company of the X-FAB Group as of April 1, 2007.

**********************

In other news …

You can find the full EDACafe.com event calendar here.

To read more news, click here.


-- Peggy Aycinena, EDACafe.com Contributing Editor.