Altair Engineering Acquires Metrics Design Automation

Michigan, United States- Altair Engineering Inc., a provider of software and cloud solutions for simulation, has agreed to acquire Metrics Design Automation Inc., a Canadian firm renowned for its semiconductor electronic simulation as a service (SaaS) model.

The integration of Metrics' DSim digital simulator with Altair's Silicon Debug Tools offers an enhanced simulation and debugging environment tailored for the EDA and semiconductor industries. Embracing a cloud-centric approach, this partnership seeks to high-end EDA design tools, potentially simplifying design workflows through scalable simulations. This collaboration has the potential to revolutionize semiconductor development by making advanced tools more cost-effective and readily available.

IC design verification tools are costly and often require hundreds of seats to run a single chip simulation. However, Altair and Metrics provide a versatile solution that runs on desktops, servers, or the cloud, supporting System Verilog and VHDL RTL for application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). This enables concurrent, scalable simulations, reducing time and costs in the design process significantly.

Mr. James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair, said, “By combining our best-in-class software with Metrics’ cloud-based simulation as a service, we are excited to bring this groundbreaking technology to our EDA and semiconductor customers. Altair is unique in our ability to merge simulation with industry-leading workload and workflow optimization technology, serving as a true partner for companies embracing innovative tools and resource delivery models in this highly specialized and high-stakes industry. Customers now have a choice in design verification.”

DSim will be available through Altair One and available for desktop download, optimized for speed, capacity, and accuracy. It provides leading digital simulation and circuit debug technology for semiconductor, automotive, aerospace, and defense industries, helping customers resolve design issues swiftly and boost production confidence.

Mr.Joe Costello, executive chairman, Metrics, said, “We are proud to be first-to-market with our game-changing design verification product and business model for the semiconductor industry. Joining Altair will allow us to grow and provide an alternative option – whether on desktop, on your own servers, or in the cloud – to engineers looking for a flexible, modern, accurate, and fast design verification solution that is truly scalable.”