Just as tourists flock to New Orleans to savor the sounds of the Dixieland jazz music and the taste and smell of Cajun cooking, hardware and systems designers are gathering here this week at the 39th Design Automation Conference (DAC). They’re arriving in droves from around the world to learn what’s new and to see what’s on display from more than 225 EDA companies.

This year, DAC is an especially relevant event as electronics companies work to identify the right combination of market insight, strategic execution and breakthrough technology to develop the next big market opportunity. Many hardware and systems designers and their managers believe that the best place to become an expert on design tools and methodologies is at DAC.
It’s been an especially good year for the $4 billion EDA industry. EDA has faired far better than most industries during this recent downturn because, in many ways, its tools and accompanying methodologies are the hub of product development and innovation. Without these tools, for example, the electronics industry would not be able to take advantage of the continuing advances in deep-submicron process technologies. We would be equally hard-pressed to guarantee first-time success or meet time-to-market demands.

EDA is almost assured of ongoing success and Wall Street’s attention if it listens to its customers and responds with the kinds of tools and methodologies designers require. Consequently, the work of this industry is far from over. In fact, challenges abound.
Many hardware and systems designers arriving at DAC this week wonder what will become the next EDA driver. It could come from a variety of different areas. The need is great for managing and partitioning complex SOC designs, speeding up mixed signal design and verification and managing the design of large digital chips at 0.1 micron and below.

DAC’s technical program this year includes papers outlining new developments in t these areas, and the exhibit floor will be full of new EDA tools. The program emphasis is on growing industry concerns: embedded systems, low power, analog and mixed signal, in addition to signal-integrity issues such as inductance and crosstalk.

Embedded Systems is a major thrust this year. As complex SOCs include TP embedded in software, there’s a need to combine the best hardware design tools from EDA companies with the best software design tools from embedded software companies.

Low power is a technology driver, not just for portable designs, but for high-performance design, too. If the industry doesn’t find ways to reduce power in high-performance designs, power dissipation will become a major stumbling block to using technologies below l00nm. It may even become the limiting parameter for Moore’s Law.

Analog and mixed signal is an ongoing concern. Serious challenges to analog designers today include low-supply voltage, signal integrity and a long design/redesign cycle. Substantial improvement in the analog design cycle must be made or it is unlikely that complex mixed signal SOCs will become a reality in the marketplace.

Signal-integrity issues such as inductance and crosstalk are design problems the EDA industry is working to solve. Device and interconnect models keep getting more complex, while the chips keep getting larger, which leads to an explosion in back-end verification times. A new topic designers will hear about at DAC will be integrated package design and physical layout tools, especially for high-speed (GHz) designs.

Wireless systems designers are always looking for opportunities to reduce cost by eliminating off-chip components such as inductors, transformers and filters. RF designers need new tools to enable the accurate modeling and seamless integration of those components.

During DAC this week, many designers will have the opportunity to expand their thinking and discover the best new technology from the EDA industry to enhance their creativity. Those designers who take advantage of these new design automation tools and methodologies will substantially improve their chances of getting a quality product to market on time and within budget. They may, of course, later claim that the inspiration came from the intoxicating strains of Dixieland jazz or the buoyancy of the EDA industry in a down market.