Interesting... But have read lots of research articles and white paper from  NEC's Central Research Laboratories before so no surprize there!

The tool, CyberWorkBench, or CWB, is the result of C-based design tools developed by NEC's Central Research Laboratories. NEC started using the tools for chip design in 1999. In 2001, Matsushita started using the tools for ASIC and FPGA designs.

The design flow is done in the C language. While C-based design tools are thought by some to be ill-suited for design control circuits, CWB includes two algorithms for data processing circuits and control circuits. So it can design the whole LSI chip that integrates data processing and control blocks, which is another advantage, said the spokesman.

Read in Full @ NEC targets C-based design tool market