Mentor wisely purchased the C synthesis tools from Agility Design Solutions (Celoxica). I call it wise because Mentor is growing their Catapult synthesis tool in the algorithmic space and adding more to the installed base makes sense. It looks like existing users of Agility can upgrade to Catapult, so that gives them a technology path to follow.

My only question about C synthesis is whether that segment can grow beyond DSP-centric designs into something with a larger base of users.

The announcements about the purchase don’t have much detail about developers from Agility. If Mentor only bought the source code and installed base, then expect the Agility products to be end-of-life. On the other hand if Mentor takes on any developers then expect some upgrade life to Agility.

If I were at BlueSpec or Forte I’d quickly put in place an Agility Upgrade plan to woo away loyal Celoxica clients.