« back to Press Releases main

SANTA CLARA, — November 29, 2011— Berkeley Design Automation, Inc., provider of the world’s fastest nanometer circuit verification, today announced that AltaSens, Inc., a premier supplier of high-performance CMOS image sensors, has selected the company’s AFS Platform for full-circuit post-layout verification, block-level characterization, and device noise analysis of their high-definition (HD) and wide-dynamic-range CMOS image sensors.

“At AltaSens we have significant circuit verification challenges to deliver CMOS image sensors with the highest image quality along with lower noise and lower power in a cost-effective solution,” said Manjunath Bhat, VP of Engineering at AltaSens. “With the AFS Platform we can run post-layout verification of our high-performance wide-dynamic-range HD CMOS image sensors with nanometer SPICE accuracy. When running AFS single core we get performance on par with our existing parallel simulator running on 8 cores.”

The Analog FastSPICE Platform is the world’s fastest nanometer circuit verification platform for analog, RF, mixed-signal, and custom digital circuits. The AFS Platform delivers foundry-certified nanometer SPICE accuracy 5x-10x faster than any other simulator on a single core and an additional 2x-4x performance with multithreading. For circuit characterization, the AFS Platform includes the industry’s only comprehensive silicon-accurate device noise analysis and delivers near-linear performance scaling with the number of cores. For large circuits, it delivers >10M-element capacity, the industry’s fastest near-SPICE-accurate simulation, and mixed- analog-digital co-simulation with leading VerilogŪ simulators. Available licenses include AFS circuit simulation, AFS Transient Noise Analysis, AFS RF Analysis, AFS Co-Simulation, and AFS Nano SPICE.

“We are delighted that AltaSens, a premier supplier of high-definition and wide-dynamic-range CMOS image sensors, has adopted the AFS Platform,” said Ravi Subramanian, president and CEO of Berkeley Design Automation. “AltaSens’ selection further validates that Berkeley Design Automation is an essential partner to leading edge companies designing high-performance CMOS image sensors across a wide variety of applications.”

About Berkeley Design Automation

Berkeley Design Automation, Inc. is the recognized leader in nanometer circuit verification. The company combines the world’s fastest nanometer circuit verification platform, Analog FastSPICE, with exceptional application expertise to uniquely address nanometer circuit design challenges. More than 100 companies rely on Berkeley Design Automation to verify their nanometer-scale circuits. Berkeley Design Automation has received numerous industry awards and is widely recognized for its technology leadership and contributions to the electronics industry. The company is privately held and backed by Woodside Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, Panasonic Corp., NTT Corp., IT-Farm, and MUFJ Capital. For more information, visit http://www.berkeley-da.com.

About AltaSens 

AltaSens, Inc. is the premier supplier of high-performance CMOS image sensors for the emerging world of high-definition video. With headquarters in Westlake Village, California, AltaSens designs and produces the AltaChrome™ and ProCamHD™ image sensors used worldwide in a diverse range of imaging products in such markets as surveillance, broadcast/professional, camcorder, videoconferencing, medical, and machine vision. AltaSens’ high-definition WDR video image sensors exceed industry expectations by delivering a technology that enables lower noise, lower power consumption, higher sensitivity, higher frame rate, and higher dynamic range in a cost-effective solution. For more information visit www.AltaSens.com.

Analog FastSPICE, AFS Nano, and WaveCrave are trademarks of Berkeley Design Automation, Inc. Berkeley Design and BDA are registered trademarks of Berkeley Design Automation, Inc. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.