Just as your pulse is checked during a routine physical, free cash flow is used as an indicator of a company's health. It equals the cash brought in from operations minus the money needed to pay the bills. Think about leftover money in your checking account after you pay this month's bills.

Investors and analysts see this leftover money as a gauge of a company's ability to perform. It is available for transactions such as handing out dividends and working on new products.

Some argue free cash flow is wrongly overshadowed by the emphasis often placed on earnings. Earnings numbers can be manipulated and don't always tell the whole story -- and earnings don't mean much if there's nothing left over after a company pays its expenses. Even if you bring in a six-figure salary, but no money left after paying the bills, are you in great financial shape?

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out free cash flow. To calculate the number, subtract the company's expenditures and dividends from its operating cash flow.

If the free cash flow is written in red ink, it doesn't necessarily signal curtains. This is common for young companies looking to grow. It also could be a result of heavy investments, which in the long run could be worth a standing ovation.

Home / Markets / Industries / Industrials

Monday, June 23, 2008

TRADE NEWS: Agilent Technologies' Advanced Design System EDA Software Chosen by Inphi for Memory Interface Chip Design

Email this Story | Respond to Editor | Print

Comtex

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jun 23, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced that Inphi Corp. has selected Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) software for the design of their commercially available DDR3 memory interface chip.

"We have had many experiences where a traditional SPICE tool was used in the distributed-circuit arena and produced nonphysical results -- ones that raise more questions than the simulation was intended to solve," said Ramanan Thiagarajah, product line manager with Inphi Corp. "We turned to ADS to resolve the issue."

Agilent's Advanced Design System is an industry-leading high-frequency, high-speed electronic design automation software platform. Recent releases of the software include breakthrough signal integrity capabilities, such as the addition of serializer/deserializer (SERDES)/Verilog analog mixed-signal co-simulation for today's most complete signal integrity design flow for serial links.

"The greatest joy in my job is seeing customers like Inphi being successful with our tools," said Colin Warwick, product marketing manager with Agilent's EEsof EDA division. "We work very hard to make the products appropriate to the task and as accurate as possible. It's very gratifying to actually see the simulation and measurements overlay with such precision."

Inphi is a leading provider of memory interface chips. The Memory Interface Logic chip contains a phase-locked loop, decode logic and buffer logic running at 1.6Gbps/pin in a 176 BGA package, and is used inside a DDR3-1600 Registered Dual In-Line Memory Module (RDIMM). The chip acts as an interface between the host controller, typically a microprocessor from Intel or AMD, and the Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips inside the module. In turn, the modules are used inside high-end servers for the Internet and other data-communications and data-processing systems.

For more information about Inphi Corp., visit the Inphi home page. To see the complete Inphi success report, including graphical results, visit http://eesof.tm.agilent.com/success/inphi_success.html.

More information about Agilent's Advanced Design System is available at www.agilent.com/find/eesof-ADS. For information about Agilent's ADS Signal Integrity suites, visit our signal integrity products page. To request an evaluation of Agilent's Signal Integrity solutions, visit our demo software request page.

About Agilent EEsof EDA Software

Agilent EEsof EDA is an industry-leading provider of RF-mixed signal circuit and system-design software. The software is compatible with and is used to design the company's test and measurement equipment. Additional information about Agilent's EDA software is available at the Agilent EEsof EDA home page.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 19,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $5.4 billion in fiscal 2007. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Further technology, corporate citizenship and executive news is available on the Agilent news site at www.agilent.com/go/news.

SOURCE: Agilent Technologies Inc.

Agilent Technologies
   Inc. Janet Smith, +1-970-679-5397 janet_smith@agilent.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008 **********************************************************************
   As of Thursday, 06-19-2008 23:59, the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert, an automated pattern recognition system, indicated an
   UPTREND on 05-13-2008 for A @ $32.25. For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com
   SmarTrend is a registered trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc. Copyright � 2004-2008 Comtex News Network, Inc. All rights
   reserved.