Another niche for CDN to go after...
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semibiznews.com
Cadence, Microcosm team up on MEMS services and tools
Semiconductor Business News
(09/16/99, 12:07:32 PM EDT)
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Microcosm Technologies Inc. today announced that they have formed a strategic relationship to assist companies with the development of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology.
The relationship between EDA giant Cadence of San Jose, Calif., and the Raleigh-based supplier of MEMS technology and software will initially target MEMS applications in the industrial and consumer sectors in support of Cadence's Electronics Infusion initiative and Industrial Electronics design services, programs under which Cadence is working with customers who do not have the in-house resources to design electronic components or systems.
Under the definitive agreement, the two companies will jointly pursue and perform consulting and design services projects to provide the performance, functionality and cost advantages enabled by the integration of electronics and MEMS. Customers will include manufacturers of automotive, machine tool, and industrial equipment; semiconductor manufacturing equipment; and automation systems.
"MEMS technology has tremendous capability to enable a large number of innovative new products, including distributed sensor networks for environmental control; smart instrumentation for closed-loop process control; and very accurate sensors, valves and meters for fluid applications," said Bob Leach, senior vice president of the Cadence Electronics Infusion consulting group. "The capacity to develop highly integrated, ultra-compact electro-mechanical and opto-electro-mechanical systems, systems that can sense and act, will provide advantages in configurability, size, weight, accuracy and reliability.
"Microcosm's expertise with these types of systems and its experience in applications such as fluidics, where Cadence has not previously participated, extends our overall capability to assist customers," he said.
In addition to providing joint services, Cadence and Microcosm have also agreed to cooperate on integration of their software products and design methodologies. Microcosm will extend its automatic macromodeling capability to generate simulation libraries of MEMS components for Cadence's analog, mixed-signal, and HDL simulation tools. Bi-directional exchange of layout information will be supported between the Cadence and Microcosm tool sets, and Microcosm will provide complete access to its MEMS design tools and foundry design kits from within the Cadence design environment. These software capabilities will be made available over the next twelve months.
The two companies will be able to offer customers "innovative design solutions that integrate MEMS devices, such as sensors and actuators from Microcosm, with our board-level signal conditioning and embedded measurement and control software capability," stated Al Strelzoff, vice president and general manager of the newly formed Industrial Electronics Design Group at Cadence. "Just one example would be customized vibration sensors integrated with machine control for improved real-time equipment diagnostics and preventive maintenance."
Michael Jamiolkowski, president and CEO of Microcosm, said, "We are extremely pleased to be teaming with Cadence to create a new generation of embedded system products based on MEMS technology. The integration of MEMS and microelectronics will enable closed-loop control systems on a chip, making possible new levels of product functionality and opening up new markets and applications."
According to a 1999 market study by System Planning Corp., the MEMS device market will grow from an estimated $2.9 billion in 1996 to $11.5 billion in the year 2003. |
