Synopsys, Inc.
TypePublic
Industry
Founded1986 (1986) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, U.S.
Founders
HeadquartersSunnyvale, California, U.S.
Key people
Aart de Geus
(Chairman & CEO)
Sassine Ghazi[1]
(President & COO)
RevenueIncrease US$5.84 billion (2023)
Increase US$1.27 billion (2023)
Increase US$1.22 billion (2023)
Total assetsIncrease US$10.3 billion (2023)
Total equityIncrease US$6.15 billion (2023)
Number of employees
c. 20,300 (2023)
DivisionsSilicon Design & Verification, Silicon Intellectual Property, Software Integrity Group
Websitewww.synopsys.com
Footnotes / references
Financials as of October 31, 2023[2]

Synopsys, Inc. is an American electronic design automation (EDA) company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that focuses on silicon design and verification, silicon intellectual property and software security and quality. Synopsys supplies tools and services to the semiconductor design and manufacturing industry. Products include tools for logic synthesis and physical design of integrated circuits, simulators for development, and debugging environments that assist in the design of the logic for chips and computer systems. As of 2023, the company is a component of both the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500 indices.[3]

History

Synopsys was founded by Aart de Geus, David Gregory and Bill Krieger in 1986 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company was initially established as Optimal Solutions with a charter to develop and market logic synthesis technology developed by the team at General Electric's Advanced Computer-Aided Engineering Group. The company changed its name to Synopsys and shifted to Mountain View, California in 1987.[4] It became a public company through an initial public offering in February 1992.[5][6]

The company built a supercomputer using commodity Linux servers and off-the-shelf hardware in 2006 to develop and run EDA applications with intense computational requirements. With LINPACK benchmark results topping 3.7 teraflops, the supercomputer made it to the TOP500 list, ranked 242nd most powerful at the time.[7][8][9]

In 2017, Synopsys established a $100 million strategic investment fund for the Chinese market.[10]

In 2018, according to the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Synopsys partnered with the People's Liberation Army National Defence University to provide field-programmable gate array design training.[11] Synopsys also sells EDA software to companies under the control of Chinese regional governments.[12]

The company launched a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) software tool, DSO.ai, for chip design in early 2020. The AI approach, which uses reinforcement learning, allows the tool to automatically decide how best to place and route blocks of circuitry on a chip.[13][14][15] In March 2023, the company rolled out AI-based tools used in the other stages of chip design, including VSO.ai for verification and TSO.ai testing.[16][17]

In 2020, the United States Department of Defense announced Synopsys as a partner in DARPA’s Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon (AISS) research program alongside ARM, Boeing, IBM, and other entities focused on developing automated design tools for secure chips.[18][19]

In April 2021, following a Washington Post report on the use of Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems technology in the People's Liberation Army's military-civil fusion efforts,[20] U.S. legislators Michael McCaul and Tom Cotton requested that the United States Department of Commerce tighten controls on the sales of semiconductor manufacturing software.[21][22]

In 2022, Synopsys was reported to be under investigation by the United States Department of Commerce for unlawful technology transfers to sanctioned companies in China such as Huawei's HiSilicon and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.[23][24]

In July 2022, agents from Taiwan's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau raided the offices of a Synopsys-backed firm on suspicion of illegally poaching engineers from TSMC.[25]

In October 2022, Synopsys joined Intel’s US Military Aerospace and Government Alliance (USMAG), under which Synopsys supplies secure EDA tools, IP, and design services for the US DoD and other government branches alongside other chip design companies including Cadence and Siemens EDA.[26][27]

In August 2023, Synopsys named COO Sassine Ghazi as CEO. Ghazi will succeed Aart de Geus in January 2024.[28]

In November 2023, Synopsys launched Synopsys.ai Copilot in collaboration with Microsoft, leveraging large language models from OpenAI to accelerate the process of semiconductor chip design.[29]

In December 2023, Synopsys announced its intention to acquire engineering software company Ansys. The deal became official the following January, with a purchase price of $35 billion, in a move that would expand Synopsys' prominence in simulation software for chip designers, automobiles, airplanes. The companies have had a research and development partnership since 2017. [30][31]

Mergers and acquisitions

Synopsys has made some silicon and design verification acquisitions.[32]

CoWare

CoWare development was initiated by the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre in Belgium as an internal project in 1992;[33] it spun off as an independent company, supplying platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services, four years later.[34][35] CoWare was acquired by Synopsys in February 2010.[36][37]

Code Dx

Code Dx was an American software technology company active from 2015 to 2021. The company's self-titled flagship product is a vulnerability management system that combines and correlates the results generated by a wide variety of static and dynamic testing tools. It was acquired by Synopsys in 2021.[38]

Avanti Corporation

Avanti Corporation (styled as "Avant!) was founded when several former Cadence Design Systems employees bought the startup ArcSys, which was previously merged with Integrated Silicon Solutions (ISS),[39] gaining Avanti its design rule checking and layout versus schematic tool Hercules (including 3D silicon structure modeling), then bought Compass Design Automation, which had fully integrated IC design flow and ASIC libraries, especially its place and route tool, which Avanti reworked to create Saturn and Apollo II; and it also bought TMA (Technology Modeling Associates) which brought their pioneering TCAD and Proteus optical proximity correction tools. This was, by far, Synopsys' most significant and controversial acquisition. At the time Avanti was the #4 company in the EDA industry, and was struggling with a major lawsuit from Cadence for software theft.[40] Avanti was merged into Synopsys on June 6, 2002, during the litigation. Synopsys paid Cadence about $265 million more to end all litigation. Soon after the settlement, the California Supreme Court upheld the lower court's earlier decision. Synopsys then paid an additional $26.1 million to Silvaco to settle two of three Silvaco's suits against Meta-Software, earlier purchased by Avanti, and its president. The lawsuits were filed in 1995 and inherited by Avanti.[41]

Magma Design Automation

Synopsys agreed to buy its competitor Magma Design Automation for about $500 million in an all-cash deal in November 2011.[42][43]

The two companies previously faced drawn-out back and forth patent disputes since 2004, which started when Synopsys accused Magma's co-founder Lukas van Ginneken of conceiving the technology used in their products to be based on the work while he was still employed at Synopsys. While van Ginneken later acknowledged the claim, Magma and Synopsys continued disputing each other's patents.[44] The litigations were eventually settled in 2007, with Magma paying Synopsys $12.5 million, and the companies agreeing to cross-license the disputed patents to each other.[45][46]

Novas Software

Novas Software was a company founded in 1996 to address debugging of chip designs. Novas was purchased by Taiwan-based EDA company SpringSoft in May 2008. SpringSoft and Novas were acquired by Synopsys in 2012.[47]

Numerical Technologies

Numerical Technologies, Inc. was a San Jose-based electronic design automation public (NASDAQ: NMTC) company. The company was primarily known for its intellectual property, software tools and services covering phase-shifting mask technology. On March 3, 2003, it was acquired by Synopsys for $250 million.[48][49]

SpringSoft

SpringSoft is a software company that developed VLSI design and debugging software. The company was founded with a grant from the Taiwanese National Science Council in February 1996.

In 1997, SpringSoft established Novas Software in Silicon Valley to market Springsoft's VLSI Debugging software. SpringSoft created a custom layout tool called Laker and a US-based company called Silicon Canvas. In May 2008, SpringSoft purchased Novas Software Silicon Canvas and combined them to form the wholly owned subsidiary SpringSoft USA. SpringSoft employed over 400 people with office locations across the world.

Synopsys announced its acquisition of SpringSoft in 2012.[47]

Synplicity

Synplicity Inc. was a supplier of software for the design of programmable logic devices (FPGAs, PLDs, and CPLDs) used for communications, military/aerospace, consumer, semiconductor, computer and other electronic systems. Synplicity's tools provided logic synthesis, physical synthesis, and verification functions for FPGA, FPGA-based ASIC prototyping, and DSP designers. Synplicity was listed on Nasdaq until it was acquired by Synopsys for $227 million in a transaction finalized on May 15, 2008.[50]

ARC International

ARC International PLC was the designer of ARC (Argonaut RISC Core) embedded processors, which were widely used in SoC devices for IoT, storage, digital home, mobile, and automotive applications. Virage Logic, which acquired ARC International in 2009, was sold to Synopsys in 2010.[51][52]

Coverity

In February 2014, Synopsys agreed to acquire static code analysis vendor Coverity for $375 million. Synopsys relied on Coverity's products for around ten years prior to the acquisition, helping improve software security by finding and fixing defects in software code before its release.[53][54]

Coverity's open-source Coverity Scan tool was hacked and used for cryptocurrency mining in February 2018. Synopsys took down the service for four weeks and confirmed the incident did not affect any of its corporate network and found no evidence of data abuse of its open-source users.[55]

Cigital

Synopsys announced the acquisition of Cigital along with its 2015 spinoff Codiscope in November 2016. The suite of its software security products became part of Synopsys' software integrity group.[56][57]

QuantumWise

In 2017 Synopsys acquired the atomic-scale modeling software company QuantumWise (former Atomistix), which provides tools for quantum-based and classical simulations in the field of material science.[58][59]

Black Duck Software

Black Duck Software was a privately held company focused on automating the process of identifying and creating an inventory of open source code used in software applications, as well as detecting known security vulnerabilities and license compliance issues. Black Duck Software was acquired by Synopsys in December 2017.[60]

WhiteHat Security

In April 2022, Synopsys announced the acquisition of WhiteHat Security for $330 million.[61] WhiteHat Security was founded in 2001 and provides application security as well as insights for DevOps teams.[61]

PikeTec

In 2023, Synopsys completed the acquisition of PikeTec, a provider of verification and testing tools for automotive software.[62]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Synopsys Appoints Sassine Ghazi as President and Chief Operating Officer; Chi-Foon Chan to Transition from co-CEO Role" (Press release). Synopsys. September 13, 2021.
  2. ↑ "US SEC: Synopsys, Inc Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. December 12, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Synopsys Inc. Profile". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  4. ↑ Pretz, Kathy (March 14, 2023). "The Maestro Behind Design-Software Behemoth Synopsys". IEEE Spectrum. ISSN 0018-9235. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Synopsys backed on first day of trading". United Press International. February 26, 1992. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ Smith, Scott S. (May 11, 2020). "Jazz Up Your Life With 'Pure Joy' Like The Synopsys CEO". Investor's Business Daily. ISSN 1061-2890. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Roll-your-own supercomputer revs EDA". EE Times. December 4, 2006. ISSN 0192-1541. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Top500 list - November 2006". Top500. November 2006. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023.
  9. ↑ Edwards, Chris (April 8, 2009). "Death of the dinosaur". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023.
  10. ↑ "China aims to shake US grip on chip design tools". Nikkei Asia. November 25, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  11. ↑ Fedasiuk, Ryan; Weinstein, Emily (December 2020). Universities and the Chinese Defense Technology Workforce. Center for Security and Emerging Technology (Report). doi:10.51593/20200043. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  12. ↑ Yamada, Shuhei (June 10, 2020). "US chip software makers thrive in China with non-Huawei clients". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  13. ↑ Knight, Will (August 13, 2021). "Samsung Has Its Own AI-Designed Chip. Soon, Others Will Too". Wired.
  14. ↑ Nellis, Stephen (February 7, 2023). "STMicro leans on AI, cloud as chip designs become more complex". Reuters.
  15. ↑ Clark, Don (May 7, 2021). "Despite Chip Shortage, Chip Innovation Is Booming". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ Nellis, Stephen (March 29, 2023). "Synopsys spreads AI throughout its chip design tools". Reuters.
  17. ↑ Shilov, Anton (March 30, 2023). "Synopsys Intros AI-Powered EDA Suite to Accelerate Chip Design and Cut Costs". AnandTech.
  18. ↑ "DARPA Picks Two Research Teams for 'Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon' Program - ExecutiveBiz". executivebiz.com. May 28, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  19. ↑ Biesecker, Cal (June 1, 2020). "Northrop Grumman, Synopsys Teams Selected By DARPA To Boost Semiconductor Security". Defense Daily. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  20. ↑ Nakashima, Ellen; Shih, Gerry (April 9, 2021). "China builds advanced weapons systems using American chip technology". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  21. ↑ "McCaul, Cotton Ask Administration to Restrict Sale of Chip-Making Software to China". United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  22. ↑ De Chant, Tim (April 16, 2021). "Congressmen ask Biden admin to keep chip design software away from China". Ars Technica. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  23. ↑ King, Ian; Leonard, Jenny (April 13, 2022). "Synopsys Probed on Allegations It Gave Tech to Huawei, SMIC". Bloomberg News. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Synopsys Says It Is Cooperating with US on China Sanction Probe". Bloomberg News. June 1, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Synopsys-Backed China Chip Firm Accused of Poaching TSMC Talent". Bloomberg News. July 27, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  26. ↑ Robinson, Dan. "Intel CEO says China chip technology controls are inevitable". www.theregister.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  27. ↑ Snider, Shane (October 24, 2022). "Intel Forges Alliance To Back National Security Effort". CRN. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Synopsys names insider Ghazi as CEO, forecasts stronger fourth quarter". Reuters. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Synopsys Unveils New AI Tool for Chip Design". Barrons. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  30. ↑ Anirban Sen And, Milana Vinn. "Synopsys seeks to acquire engineering software company Ansys-sources". reuters. reuters. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  31. ↑ Glickman, Asa Fitch and Ben. "Synopsys to Acquire Ansys in $35 Billion Deal". WSJ. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Strategic Acquisitions". www.synopsys.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  33. ↑ Verkest, D.; Rompaey, K.; Bolsens, I.; Man, H. (October 1996). "CoWare—A design environment for heterogeneous hardware/software systems". Design Automation for Embedded Systems. 1 (4): 357–386. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.15.2686. doi:10.1007/BF00209910.
  34. ↑ "imec spin-offs". IMEC. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  35. ↑ Clarke, Peter (March 7, 2005). "CoWare joins IMEC multimedia development project". Electronic Design News.
  36. ↑ "Synopsys to acquire CoWare". American City Business Journals. February 8, 2010.
  37. ↑ "Synopsys to Acquire CoWare, Inc" (Press release). Synopsys. February 8, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  38. ↑ Riley, Duncan (June 8, 2021). "Synopsys snaps up Code Dx for consolidated risk reporting across software vulnerability data". SiliconAngle.
  39. ↑ Morrison, Gale (June 19, 2000). "Hsu Stays in Taiwan for DAC". Electronic Design News. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021.
  40. ↑ "The Avant! Saga: Does Crime Pay? The inside story of a company that stole software code". Bloomberg Businessweek. September 2, 2001. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017.
  41. ↑ "Synopsys Form 8K/A July 26, 2002" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  42. ↑ Musil, Steven (November 30, 2011). "Synopsys to buy rival Magma for $507 million". CNET.
  43. ↑ Clark, Don (December 1, 2011). "Synopsys Deal Will Narrow Chip Field". The Wall Street Journal.
  44. ↑ "Co-founder's admissions roil Magma". EE Times. April 18, 2005.
  45. ↑ McGrath, Dylan (March 20, 2007). "Patent resolution removes cloud over Magma". EE Times.
  46. ↑ Deffree, Suzanne (December 1, 2011). "Synopsys to buy Magma for $507 million". Electronic Design.
  47. 1 2 Primack, Dan. "M&A: August 3, 2012". Finance.fortune.cnn.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  48. ↑ Prince, Marcelo (January 13, 2003). "Synopsys Agrees to Acquire Numerical for $250 Million". The Wall Street Journal.
  49. ↑ Clarke, Peter (March 23, 2003). "Single-transistor SOI memory firm raises $6 million". EE Times.
  50. ↑ Ann Steffora Mutschler (March 20, 2008). "Synopsys buys Synplicity for $227M". EDN. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  51. ↑ Happich, Julien (November 9, 2009). "Virage Logic completes acquisition of ARC International". EE Times.
  52. ↑ Phadke, Manasi (June 10, 2010). "Synopsys to buy Virage Logic for $315 mln". Reuters.
  53. ↑ Schubarth, Cromwell (February 20, 2014). "Synopsys buys Coverity for $375M to improve software quality, security". American City Business Journals.
  54. ↑ Prior, Anna (February 19, 2014). "Synopsys Posts 3.2% Drop in Profit". The Wall Street Journal.
  55. ↑ Leyden, John (March 19, 2018). "Coverity Scan code checker's systems crypto-jacked to run cheeky mining op". The Register.
  56. ↑ "Synopsys to Buy LLR-Backed Cigital". The Wall Street Journal. November 8, 2016.
  57. ↑ Leyden, John (November 8, 2016). "Synopsys buys Cigital in secure DevOps push". The Register.
  58. ↑ "Synopsys strengthens design-technology co-optimization solution with acquisition of QuantumWise". Reuters. September 18, 2017.
  59. ↑ "Synopsys (SNPS) Buys QuantumWise, Grows through Acquisitions". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  60. ↑ Loizos, Connie (November 3, 2017). "Fifteen-year-old Black Duck Software gets its exit, selling to Synopsys for $565 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  61. 1 2 Haranas, Mark (April 28, 2022). "Synopsys Buying SaaS Security Company WhiteHat For $330 million". CRN.
  62. ↑ "Synopsys completes acquisition of PikeTec car testing software firm". VentureBeat. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
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