Combination of Precision Synthesis and SmartGuide technology claimed to dramatically reduce design time

Test results conducted jointly over the past twelve months using Mentor's Precision Synthesis tool and the Xilinx SmartGuide functionality show that users saved an average of 40% in mapping and place-and-route (P&R) time. The combined solution preserves unchanged portions of the design when making small changes, reducing overall design iteration time. Tests performed at Xilinx show that over 97% of the components went unchanged and quality of results (QoR) was maintained in the process. These results have also been verified by mutual customers.

"The Precision Synthesis flow, followed by Xilinx' SmartGuide technology, is a great time-saver and minimizes the impact of late-cycle design changes," says Tom Dillon, president of Dillon Engineering. "Modern designs usually require incremental changes, so this new flow typically saves us more than 70% of overall iteration time while retaining the timing performance of the design and keeping most of the instances and nets unchanged."

Mentor's incremental synthesis is an automatic, "push-button" technology that quickly and predictably optimizes the process of incremental design changes. Combining incremental synthesis with incremental place and route can result in shaving days off current design cycles by localizing the impact of design changes.

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