October 21, 2009 -- Mentor Graphics Corp. today announced that Fujitsu Kyushu Network Technologies Limited (Fujitsu QNET) has chosen the Catapult C Synthesis tool for use in its design tool environment to implement complex algorithms in hardware that were previously processed by a processor implemented on LSI. Fujitsu’s growing expertise with the Catapult C tool is also a key enabler in the expansion of its design services business.

Fujitsu QNET was able to significantly cut power consumption by using the Catapult C Synthesis tool to create a dedicated hardware accelerator for a mobile voice processing algorithm versus running in software. The resulting silicon implementation yielded a reduction in power consumption of 83%. This was made possible by the ability of the Catapult C tool to find the optimal trade-off between power, performance and area, in this case, implementing a design satisfying voice performance requirements while running at a lower clock frequency than the previous implementation using a processor.

Fujitsu QNET is also expanding its use to a host of application areas including image authentication and wireless processing systems. Fujitsu QNET is now aiming to deliver significant performance improvements to its image recognition systems by accelerating features previously processed on dedicated DSPs and implementing them in custom hardware. The Catapult C tool’s ability to synthesize high-performance RTL from its original C programs is a key enabler for Fujitsu QNET to create differentiated products.