On Target: Embedded Systems

Synopsys Completes Acquisition of CoWare

What Happened? Yesterday, Synopsys announced that it had completed the acquisition of CoWare that it had originally announced on February 8th. VDC's View The acquisition of CoWare, a leading ESL and virtual platform solution provider, will help further strengthen Synopsys' System-Level Design Division that was already bolstered by the addition of VaST's tool suite last month. Whereas Synopsys' recent acquisitions certainly underscore their commitment to ESL and, more specifically, virtual platform technology, VDC expects that the future success of these acquisitions will rest on Synopsys' ability to manage the inherited client and partner relationships and minimize any uncertainty surrounding the... Read more →

Embedded World Bulletin – March 2010

VDC attended the 2010 embedded world Exhibition & Conference in Nuremberg, Germany March 2nd and 3rd. This bulletin presents a summary of the event. This is the first time VDC Research has attended embedded world and according to the show closing report, there were 730 international exhibiting companies and 18,350 trade visitors. Both represent a record number of exhibitors and visitors participating in the exhibition and conference over previous years. The show floor consisted of four interconnected halls with exhibitors logically grouped by the type of products offered. Over the course of two days VDC met with over 20 exhibitors... Read more →

Synopsys Doubles Down, Acquires CoWare

What Happened? Yesterday, Synopsys announced they were acquiring CoWare, the third acquisition within the Virtual System Prototyping/Simulation (VSPS) market in the last week (Intel/Wind River is acquiring Virtutech and Synopsys acquired VaST). Similarly to the other acquisitions, the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed. VDC’s View Although the VSPS market (a niche segment within the Electronic System Level (ESL) tool market) is small, it is has certainly generated a barrage of recent activity recently. As discussed within our post on Friday, VSPS tools have been gaining adoption within the embedded... Read more →

Further Shakeup in the VSPS Market – Intel acquiring Virtutech

Wind River to add Simics Virtual System Prototyping/Simulation Solution to Portfolio What Happened? Wind River, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDQ: INTC), today announced it will add the Virtutech product line to its embedded software product portfolio after the completion of Intel Corporation’s acquisition of Virtutech which is expected to close later this quarter. VDC’s View This announcement marks the 2nd major acquisition in the VSPS market this week. On Wednesday Synopsys announced that it had acquired VaST Systems Technology Corp. As we stated previously – Synopsys’ acquisition of VaST gave the combined entity the top spot for... Read more →

Partnership Underscores Integration & Consolidation Trends in Embedded

What Happened? In case you missed it, LDRA announced yesterday that it has partnered with Visure Solutions to create an ALM solution specifically targeted at safety-critical embedded applications. VDC’s View The heterogeneity of embedded projects had previously insulated, or at least dampered, some of the pressures facing tool companies competing in the embedded world as compared to those in the enterprise/IT market. The complex and unique development requirements typical in the embedded market fostered a commercial tool market in which best-of-breed or point solutions could still garner the lion’s share of market revenue. However, times are changing. It is clear... Read more →

Synopsys Acquires VaST, becoming #1 in VSPS Market

What Happened? Synopsys(NASDAQ: SNPS) announced that it acquired VaST Systems Technology Corporation. The terms of the acquisition, which closed February 1st, were not disclosed. VDC’s View A report that we coincidentally released this morning, Virtual System Prototyping/Simulation Tools for Software Development & Verification – A Market Update, shows that a combined Synopsys-VaST would garner the leading share of revenue in the virtual platform market. Our research also appears to confirm Sysnopsys’ claim that the acquisition of VaST provides them with access to industries, namely automotive, where there was little overlap with the existing revenue streams of Synopsys’ Innovator product line.... Read more →

What Tools are on Embedded Engineers’ Wish Lists?

With the holiday season now upon us in full force, we are constantly bombarded with commercials every time we turn on the television, the radio, or log onto the internet. All of these advertisements are aimed at convincing us why we need a certain type or brand of product. In light of these ubiquitous reminders of one of the pillars of capitalism, we thought it would only be appropriate to share more about what embedded engineers think about the different products that they are using. As part of a recent survey, we asked engineers how likely they were to use... Read more →

2010 Embedded Software & Tools Market Update & Outlook - Webcast Today!

It is not too late to register for today's webcast! During this complimentary webcast, we will discuss the challenges facing embedded device and systems manufacturers and their embedded solutions providers and offer our thoughts on how they will have to adjust given the current economic climate. Specifically, the webcast will address the following key questions: How have economic conditions affected embedded software solution suppliers? What does the competitive landscape look like? How will supplier consolidation affect the market? How are multi-core requirements impacting embedded software development? What types of tasks are being outsourced by OEMs and what are the opportunities... Read more →

2009 Embedded Engineering Survey Data ~ Available Now!

With the increasing complexity of embedded software and hardware designs, the 2009 end-user data books provide insight into the behavior, opinions, and demographics of embedded engineers, the degree to which embedded system engineering tasks are converging, and key system engineering trends likely to impact embedded systems manufacturers and solution providers over the short and long term. This end-user data is based on detailed Web survey responses collected in the late May 2009 to mid September 2009 time-frame from over 780 embedded systems engineers worldwide and offer an understanding about the dynamics of the embedded market as they relate to current... Read more →

What Tools are (Not) Critical to the Success of Engineering Projects?

We asked and the engineers have responded. Most Critical Out of the 15 types of engineering tools we asked engineers to rate, IP/Licensing/Compliance/Component Management tools (e.g. Black Duck Protex, Palamida, Protecode Build IP Analyzer, etc.) emerged as the highest rated tools. These tools allow organizations to audit the lineage and licensing restrictions of the various open source software components they are considering integrating into their own commercial products. Although these tools are used less commonly than some other types of tools we asked about, it is clear that the growing use of open source software within embedded projects is driving... Read more →