SAN JOSE, USA: The Power Forward Initiative (PFI) announced that three Japanese design services companies had recently joined the initiative and are offering Common Power Format (CPF)-enabled low-power design capabilities to their design services customers.

With the addition of these three leading Japanese design centers: Nippon Systemware Co. Ltd (NSW), Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. (DNP) and Toppan Technical Design Center Co. Ltd, the PFI increases its membership to over 30 companies around the world, representing a broad spectrum of IC design, IP, service and manufacturing providers.

All three design services companies have adopted the Cadence low-power solution, which integrates leading-edge design, verification and implementation technology with the widely deployed CPF standard to deliver an end-to-end low-power design solution to IC engineers. By preserving low-power design intent throughout the design process, the solution eliminates laborious manual work, reduces power-related chip failure, and provides power predictability early in the design process, enabling sharing and reuse of low-power intelligence throughout the design process.

NSW is an independent IT company and a leading provider of embedded total solutions in the LSI design service market. NSW assists customers designing ICs for graphics, communication/network, mechanical control applications and ARM-embedded SoCs as an ARM-approved design center.

DNP provides LSI design services for a variety of applications, including microprocessors for consumer electronics, ASICs and SoCs, mixed-signal, memory, CCD and CMOS image sensors, display drivers, and power supplies through its subsidiary for LSI design service, DNP LSI Design Co. Ltd.

Toppan Technical Design Center provides custom, multipurpose services, including systems design, logic design, and chip-level and IP integration using C-level or HDL design as well as chip-level layout. Toppan also provides capabilities and superior technologies for ARM-based design as an ARM-approved design center, as well as analog RF and power supply design.

"Low-power design is a significant and growing trend in the Japan semiconductor market, where an increasing percentage of design work is targeted to consumer applications," said Pankaj Mayor, group director of Business Enablement at Cadence Design Systems Inc. "By joining the Power Forward Initiative, NSW, DNP and Toppan can bring additional value to their customer engagements both in terms of low-power design capabilities, and in support of their customers' programs to reduce energy consumption. We applaud their leadership."