Mentor Makes Major Push Into Auto Industry

October 7th, 2005

Mentor Graphics is moving to consolidate its set of tools and package them for the automotive industry. It recently acquired Volcano Communications Technologies, a vendor of automotive networking software and introduced SystemVision, a new modeling and simulation tool for automotive mechatronics sub-systems. Mentor also announced that the company is now a premium member of Autosar, the standards organization working to create an open standard for automotive engineering architecture.

Mentor acquired Volcano Communications Technologies in May of this year. Volcano supplies networking and data communication software and systems that support the development of in-vehicle networking systems. Its customers include Audi, BMW, Bosch, Visteon and Volvo.

SystemVision is a tool that enables the system designer to model systems and components with a virtual prototype and use simulation to perform the critical analyses of electrical, mechanical, thermal and hydraulic sub-systems needed to help ensure successful automotive system design. SystemVision is based on a mixed-signal modeling language, VHDL-AMS, which as a vendor- independent standard language enables very efficient information exchange between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers, reducing communication problems with the concept of executable specifications.

SystemVision is fully integrated with Mentor’s electrical systems design software, Capital Harness Systems (CHS), and complements CHS’s electrical analysis tool, Capital Analysis. SystemVision is available today and priced ranging from the E/E version at USD$9,000 to the high end SystemVision Pro Plus Bundle at USD$38,000.

Mentor also offers the Nucleus family of embedded software products. This family includes UML high-level design tools, a royalty-free real-time operating system (RTOS), and middleware specifically targeted to automotive applications and processors.

In the future, Mentor plans to expand its automotive offerings as the growth of in-vehicle electronics and software continues. The areas they have targeted include:

• Functional design, allocation, and reusability
• System and electronic control unit (ECU) design and integration
• Vehicle architecture definition and optimization
• Network design and optimization
• Multi-domain analysis
• In-vehicle software and mechatronics design
• Electrical distribution systems design and manufacturing
• Documentation and diagnostics

Additionally, Mentor continues to strengthen strategic alliances and relationships with other key suppliers to the automotive industry such as UGS, Mathworks, and Dassault Systèmes in order to address the industry need for a complete design environment.

For more information, visit the Mentor Graphics website.

Entry Filed under: Simulation