-Describes the engineering needs addressed by the individual EDA tools and covers EDA from both the provider and user viewpoints.-Learn the importance of marketing and business trends in the EDA industry.-The EDA consortium is made up of major corporations including SUN, HP, and Intel.

Preface Purpose of This BookThe tremendous increase in the use of tiny electronic devices is common knowledge. We find them everywhere today, in cars, household appliances, telephones, music, and business equipment. The typical car or house uses dozens of them.These devices are called microchips or integrated circuits (ICs). Today a single IC can do more than an entire roomful of equipment just a decade ago. Integrated circuits are small enough to hold in your hand, yet contain millions of tiny electronic components.Engineers create detailed design plans to make ICs, similar to an architect's building plans. Architects use computer tools to design a building and predict the structure's response to storms or earthquakes. Similarly, IC designers use computer program tools to design an IC, test its performance, and verify its behavior. We refer to the tools as electronic design automation (EDA).An entire industry has evolved to provide these tools to aid the IC designers. This book introduces readers to the EDA industry. It discusses both the technical and business aspects of EDA in clear non-technical language without equations. The text briefly describes the related semiconductor industry issues and evolving chip design problems addressed by the EDA tools. A unique, dialog format presents the technical material in an easy-to-read manner.The book focuses solely on EDA for IC design, intentionally excluding other design automation areas (e.g., printed circuit boards and mechanical design). The text gives generic tool descriptions since company and product names change rapidly. Intended AudienceThe electronic product industry consists of electronic system manufacturers, semiconductor companies, and chip design houses. Semiconductor equipment providers, test equipment manufacturers, and EDA companies are also part of the industry.In most of these firms, over half the employees are non-technical or "semi-technical." These semi-technical people are involved in the EDA or related industries. Experienced employees will have picked up some jargon and knowledge, but both they and most new employees lack an overall introduction to this highly technical field.Sales and marketing, communications, legal, or finance personnel will find the book useful. Others in financial analysis, public relations, or publications firms also need to know about the EDA industry. Some readers will be interested only in the overview, business, or industry sections, while others will focus on particular technical EDA chapters.Along with the semi-technical people, many people with technical backgrounds will find the book very beneficial. The technical backgrounds include computer engineering, programming, electronic testing, mechanical engineering, packaging, or academic fields. These readers may not have EDA backgrounds and so seek a simple introduction to EDA.The book is thus helpful to new employees, both technical and non-technical. Some readers may be familiar with a portion of EDA and want to see "the big picture." Others may focus on technical areas relevant to their own work. Faculty and students in universities, colleges, community colleges, and technical institutes can use the book as an introduction to the IC and EDA industries. The book will fit well in cross-discipline business/engineering courses. Technical students will find the full coverage useful and complementary to an academic course on ICs or EDA.Non-technical readers include:Within the organization:Marketing communications, sales, and marketing personnelHuman relations, administrative personnel, and new hiresManufacturing, purchasing, and operations personnelFinance, accounting, and legal personnelOutside the organization:Financial analysts, law firmsPublic relations, publications, or media representativesManufacturing represen