Siemens to acquire Excellicon to expand EDA software portfolio

Siemens has signed an agreement to acquire Excellicon, a supplier of software for timing constraint management in integrated circuit (IC) design, to enhance its electronic design automation (EDA) portfolio.

The acquisition will see Excellicon's suite integrated into Siemens' EDA software offerings, with the aim of supporting System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designers in accelerating design closure and improving both functional and structural constraint correctness during the IC design process. Siemens announced that the addition of Excellicon's products will facilitate new approaches for implementation and verification flows, providing designers with capabilities to optimise power, performance and area (PPA), while addressing challenges in present workflows.

The ongoing evolution of SoC design, driven by increasing design complexity, demands advanced timing constraints management across the development process to ensure products meet power, performance, area, and time-to-market targets. Siemens underscored the significance of this requirement in the context of modern semiconductor design.

Mike Ellow, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens EDA, Siemens Digital Industries Software, commented on the planned acquisition, stating: "Effective timing constraints management is crucial for the overall success of semiconductor system-on-chip designs. Excellicon's constraint verification and management solution complements Siemens' existing EDA offerings and expands our portfolio into key market segments in flows with the Questa, Tessent, Aprisa and PowerPro products."

Excellicon's tools are designed to cover the entire timing constraints spectrum, from authoring and compiling to verification, formal validation and management, using a multi-mode approach. This approach is intended to bridge the gap between early design concepts and their physical implementation, providing insights into partitioning for optimal floorplans and timing. Siemens expects that the integration of Excellicon's technology will reinforce both implementation and verification stages in existing EDA workflows.

Himanshu Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer of Excellicon, commented on the agreement, saying: "We are delighted to join Siemens and bring our knowledge and expertise in timing constraints management to the wider Siemens EDA community. Together, we'll be able to provide better process coverage and enable our customers to deliver robust innovation to market more quickly and overcome the ever-growing complexity challenges facing the IC industry."

Excellicon, founded in 2009 and based in Laguna Hills, United States, specialises in developing tools to support timing constraints in digital design and verification workflows. The company has established a reputation for its solutions across the IC industry.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Siemens indicated that completion of the transaction is expected within a few weeks.

Siemens Digital Industries Software provides software, hardware and services through its Xcelerator business platform. The division supports digital transformation initiatives across diverse sectors and offers tools that help organisations optimise design, engineering and manufacturing processes from the chip level through to complete systems.