Brandenburg Acquisition Reflects Synopsys Strategy in Optical Solutions
When most people see "Synopsys" they think, "That's not how you spell that word." But to those in the electronics industry, "Synopsys" is synonymous with EDA and IP. And, they're right - for the most part. In reality, Synopsys has been executing a strategy to expand its total addressable market into areas that are naturally adjacent to its traditional markets for years. The company now provides a wide range of technologies that accelerate innovation in electronics.
Take, for example, Synopsys' Optical Solutions. With the acquisition of Optical Research Associates (ORA®) in 2010, Synopsys made its first move into the optics industry. With the CODE V® and LightTools® software products, Synopsys is continuing ORA's long history as an innovator in the development of optical design and analysis software. In 2012, Synopsys acquired RSoft Design Group, expanding the company's portfolio of optical design and analysis software products. With the RSoft products, Synopsys has augmented the CODE V and LightTools product lines to provide a full spectrum of photonic and optical design solutions.
In February 2014, Synopsys acquired Brandenburg, maker of the LucidShape line of CAD software for the design of automotive forward, rear and signal lighting and reflectors, as well as for general lighting. In addition to design software, Brandenburg offers LucidDrive for night driving simulation that generates almost photorealistic lighting scenes in real time. Designers use it to quickly and accurately evaluate beam patterns of vehicle headlamps prior to expensive fabrication and testing. Most top-tier car companies and their lighting OEMs use Brandenburg products.
The Brandenburg acquisition strengthens Synopsys' existing lighting design tools portfolio, which includes imaging, illumination and telecommunications optics design, optimization and simulation solutions. With the LucidShape products, Synopsys can offer a more complete set of optical tools for automotive customers as well as support new technologies, applications and markets as they emerge. Plus, the addition of the Brandenburg staff brings a world-class team of experts into Synopsys.
Expanding into the optical market makes absolute sense when you look closely at the problems semiconductor and optical designers are facing. Accelerating the design, simulation, analysis and optimization of optical systems involves the same level of algorithmic and software engineering expertise Synopsys is known to provide.
If you'd like to learn more about Synopsys' Optical Design Solutions, visit our Optical Solutions web site at: http://optics.synopsys.com
