Rapid prototyping platform to cut software development complexity

Featuring up to eight Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGAs, Protium is said to improve software development productivity by reducing the time needed to bring up prototypes, in some cases shortening the process from months to weeks. Frank Schirrmeister, senior director of System Development Suite development, said: "It's another step in the development of SDS. Every year, we have upgraded the suite and this announcement adds FPGA based rapid prototyping. Protium will help to bring designs up more quickly and reflects the complexity which design teams now face." Compatible with the Palladium verification system, Protium is said to bring a fourfold increase in capacity and support for designs with up to 100million gates. Protium also provides automated memory compilation, external bulk memory support and RTL name preservation throughout the flow. "It focuses on software development once the RTL is stable," Schirrmeister continued. Meanwhile, Cadence has added verification and debug support for IEEE1801 to the Palladium XP II platform. Previously, the system only supported the Common Power Format.