CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
28 June 2004
Product News
Synopsys Announces OpenMAST to Foster Open Model Exchange for Automotive and Aerospace Design Communities
Synopsys, Inc. ( http://www.synopsys.com ) announced the availability of OpenMASTT, an open source, mixed-technology language for electromechanical design and analysis. Synopsys is delivering OpenMAST in response to customer demand to establish an open, standardized version of the popular MAST® language. OpenMAST will address a key need of the automotive and aerospace design community by fostering open model exchange and interoperability of existing and future MAST-based models.
"To facilitate electrical analysis, open model exchange between GM and its suppliers has long been a goal. To support this effort, there is a tremendous need for modeling standards and the OpenMAST is a step in the right direction," said David Smith, electrical analysis manager at General Motors. "GM was an early user and contributor to MAST and we have been incorporating it into our design flow for more than ten years. OpenMAST formalizes the language and should foster an open system-level modeling and verification environment that incorporates one of the most widely used mixed-technology modeling languages in our industry."
In the automotive and aerospace industry, the rising complexity of software-controlled electromechanical systems is driving the need for new verification methodologies using languages such as VHDL-AMS, Verilog-AMS, SystemVerilog, and SystemC. Model libraries are the foundation and key to adoption of any design-verification methodology. OpenMAST can help mature and accelerate adoption of emerging design-verification methodologies by supporting the interoperability of the more than one hundred thousand existing MAST models in automotive and aerospace.
"The opportunity now exists for transportation markets to converge on a standard language. OpenMAST is a direct response to our customer requests for an open design environment and model exchange format to address the key verification challenges in the automotive and aerospace electromechanical design community," said Rich Goldman, vice president, strategic market development at Synopsys. "OpenMAST will increase innovation and, most importantly, help customers with interoperable flows supported by tools from multiple vendors."
OpenMAST is available free of charge at http://www.openmast.org/ . Information regarding OpenMAST can be downloaded from the website including access to an OpenMAST license, language reference manual (LRM), the Designer's Guide, reference parser and the Portability Guide. By opening MAST to the public, Synopsys is enlisting the expertise of a community of users and developers to review and enhance the language.
The open source licensing model continues to grow in popularity with proven successes such as Linux, Java®, LibertyT, SystemCT, LEF and Synopsys Design Constraints (SDC) among others. With Synopsys' open source model, the user community can enhance a standard and submit changes for incorporation in future revisions of the LRM, thereby speeding up development of a high quality, well-supported standard.
OpenMAST is an intuitive, easy-to-learn language that combines the familiarity and strengths of mathematical expressions, event driven processes, and C-like programming constructs, with additional constructs targeted at reliability and design verification making it ideal for developing a wide range of systems. OpenMAST accelerates the design and verification of systems with proven support for statistical, parametric, and robust design analyses. Designers describe and verify their systems using OpenMAST and the libraries and tools provided by EDA vendors.
Saber® is a product for system-level, multi-technology simulation, which includes thousands of generic and characterized models in its library using the MAST modeling language. Saber technology allows the development, optimization and verification of electrical, electronic, hydraulic and mechanical designs for manufacturing various components within the different transportation subsystems.
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