CoWare

CoWare, Inc. was a supplier of electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services. The company's offerings were aimed at intellectual property (IP), semiconductor, and electronics companies. CoWare's software portfolio included tools for platform architecture design, verification, processor design, and software development, all based on the open SystemC standard.

The company's product line included Platform Architect, Model Designer, a Model Library, Processor Designer (formerly LISATek), and Signal Processing Designer (formerly SPW). These tools enabled engineers to design and analyze complex systems-on-a-chip (SoC), create custom processors, and develop algorithms for applications in markets such as wireless, consumer, and automotive design. The company started as an internal project at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre in Belgium in 1992 before being founded as a separate entity in 1996.

On March 23, 2010, Synopsys, Inc. completed its acquisition of CoWare. The acquisition was intended to expand Synopsys's portfolio of system-level design and verification products. The addition of CoWare's technology and team extended Synopsys's presence in the system-level design market, enabling them to bring new solutions to market for designing processor and software-intensive products. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Keywords: electronic design automation, system-level design, ESL, platform architecture, system-on-chip, SoC verification, processor design, embedded software, SystemC, semiconductor IP