CoFluent helps Intel with virtual platform creation

Brian Bailey

September 20, 2011

Brian Bailey

About 10 days ago a friend of mine told me that Intel may have acquired CoFluent, a French ESL company that creates tools for modeling and the creation of virtual platforms. CoFluent Studio™ is an embedded system modeling and simulation toolset that supports model-driven architecture (MDA) concepts and Eclipse modeling framework (EMF) technology.

I managed to confirm this with Vincent Perrier, company CTO and founder. However, he also informed me that Intel did not wish to publically talk about it and there would be no PR attached to the acquisition, so I kept quiet. However, they now have a notification on the web page:

Dear Valued Customer:
On August 30, 2011 Intel Corporation acquired CoFluent Design. On behalf of Intel Corporation we want to take this opportunity to assure you of Intel’s commitment to our customers and a seamless transition.
The CoFluent product line extends Intel’s software product portfolio with a hardware/software co-design system development solution for the growing market segment of multicore virtual prototyping as well as simulation tools to expedite design decisions. Working as one company we are now in a stronger position to advance our goal to deliver greater value to customers across the entire product lifecycle and specifically in helping with design decisions intended to improve time-to-market for new products and to increase software quality.
The sales support and order management system provided by CoFluent prior to the acquisition will continue in a ‘business as usual model’ for your product support needs on CoFluent branded products. We are currently in transition planning phase, with the objective of making this transition as smooth as possible for you. Please be assured that as transition plans firm up we will provide you with detailed updates.
Please continue to contact the sales representative you worked with at CoFluent before the acquisition for support or questions until directed otherwise by Intel through future communications.
Intel is excited about this acquisition and values your business. We look forward to working with you during this transition and in the future. Thank you in advance for your support during this transition.
Sincerely,
Stephane Leclercq
CoFluent Business Development – Software & Services

So, Intel is directly getting back into the tools business and clearly intends to start creating and distributing virtual platforms for their products. This will help software developers better utilize the hardware and fits in with my prediction from DAC 2010 that the first people to deliver mainstream ESL tools will be those that develop the tools for restricted environments – such as the Intel platforms. This will make it more difficult for the standalone virtual platform tools from companies such as Mentor and Synopsys to gain acceptance in the market and I am surprised that they have not yet forged alliances with more platform providers.

Brian Bailey – keeping you covered

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