Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) and Green Hills Software, a privately held company, today announced a strategic partnership that is expected to leverage their respective strengths to drive embedded system safety and security, while accelerating growth for both companies. As part of the partnership, Cadence has invested about $150 million that represents an approximate 16 percent ownership interest in Green Hills, and Cadence CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has joined the Green Hills Board of Directors.
There continues to be rapid growth of hyperconnected embedded systems that are deployed into critical infrastructure such as aerospace and defense, automobiles, industrial and medical devices. Security has become one of the most serious challenges that these industries face, and it is paramount that all embedded systems are designed with safety and security in mind.
Green Hills is the industry leader in embedded safety and security software solutions, with its INTEGRITY-178B real-time operating system having been certified to EAL6+, the highest Common Criteria security level achieved for an operating system. Green Hills products are broadly deployed across multiple application domains, particularly in aerospace and defense, with customers including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and in automotive, with many top OEM and Tier 1 customers including Toyota and Ford.
The partnership furthers the Cadence System Design Enablement strategy and builds upon its leading core electronic design automation (EDA), verification hardware, embedded processor and IP solutions to address new market expansion opportunities in the estimated $3 billion plus embedded system safety and security space. Cadence and Green Hills expect to collaborate on providing integrated solutions that comprehend both hardware and software aspects of safety and security, to enable the development of highly secure embedded systems.
The partnership will leverage the technologies, domain expertise, market reach and resources of both companies to explore opportunities for joint go-to-market and technology collaboration across the companies as well as joint marketing initiatives.
“The hyperconnected era is creating increasing safety and security challenges, particularly for the critical aerospace and defense, automotive, medical and industrial IoT domains,” said Lip-Bu Tan, chief executive officer of Cadence. “By partnering closely with Green Hills, we look forward to delivering solutions that will accelerate the development of highly secure embedded systems in these critical areas and furthering our System Design Enablement strategy by broadening our reach in these verticals to expand beyond our core business into newer adjacent areas of the system space.”
“Security is the joint responsibility of software and hardware,” said Dan O’Dowd, founder and chief executive officer of Green Hills Software. “This new partnership between Cadence and Green Hills Software brings together the best in hardware and software know-how to supply the developers of internet of things devices with end-to-end support to enhance the safety and security of their devices and prevent them from being compromised.”
