Electronic design automation
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"ECAD" redirects here. For the Brazilian organization, see ECAD (Brazil). For other
uses, see ECAD (disambiguation).
"Electronic design" redirects here. For the magazine, see Electronic Design
(magazine).
Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-
aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing electronic
[1]
systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools work
together in a design flow that chip designers use to design and analyze
entire semiconductor chips. Since a modern semiconductor chip can have billions of
components, EDA tools are essential for their design; this article in particular
describes EDA specifically with respect to integrated circuits (ICs).
History[edit]
Early days[edit]
Prior to the development of EDA, integrated circuits were designed by hand and
manually laid out. Some advanced shops used geometric software to generate tapes
for a Gerber photoplotter, responsible for generating a monochromatic exposure
image, but even those copied digital recordings of mechanically drawn components.
The process was fundamentally graphic, with the translation from electronics to
graphics done manually; the best-known company from this era was Calma,
whose GDSII format is still in use today. By the mid-1970s, developers started to
automate circuit design in addition to drafting and the first placement and
routing tools were developed; as this occurred, the proceedings of the Design
Automation Conference catalogued the large majority of the developments of the
time.
The next era began following the publication of "Introduction to VLSI Systems"
by Carver Mead and Lynn Conway in 1980; this groundbreaking text advocated chip
design with programming languages that compiled to silicon. The immediate result
was a considerable increase in the complexity of the chips that could be designed,
with improved access to design verification tools that used logic simulation. Often the
chips were easier to lay out and more likely to function correctly, since their designs
could be simulated more thoroughly prior to construction. Although the languages
and tools have evolved, this general approach of specifying the desired behavior in a
textual programming language and letting the tools derive the detailed physical
design remains the basis of digital IC design today.
The earliest EDA tools were produced academically. One of the most famous was
the "Berkeley VLSI Tools Tarball", a set of UNIX utilities used to design early VLSI
systems. Still widely used are the Espresso heuristic logic minimizer, responsible for
circuit complexity reductions and Magic, a computer-aided design platform. Another
crucial development was the formation of MOSIS, a consortium of universities and
fabricators that developed an inexpensive way to train student chip designers by
, producing real integrated circuits. The basic concept was to use reliable, low-cost,
relatively low-technology IC processes and pack a large number of projects
per wafer, with several copies of chips from each project remaining preserved.
Cooperating fabricators either donated the processed wafers or sold them at cost, as
they saw the program helpful to their own long-term growth.
Birth of commercial EDA[edit]
See also: Productivity-improving technologies § Semiconductor device fabrication
1981 marked the beginning of EDA as an industry. For many years, the larger
electronic companies, such as Hewlett Packard, Tektronix and Intel, had pursued
EDA internally, with managers and developers beginning to spin out of these
companies to concentrate on EDA as a business. Daisy Systems, Mentor
Graphics and Valid Logic Systems were all founded around this time and collectively
referred to as DMV. In 1981, the U.S. Department of Defense additionally began
funding of VHDL as a hardware description language. Within a few years, there were
many companies specializing in EDA, each with a slightly different emphasis.
The first trade show for EDA was held at the Design Automation Conference in 1984
and in 1986, Verilog, another popular high-level design language, was first
introduced as a hardware description language by Gateway Design Automation.
Simulators quickly followed these introductions, permitting direct simulation of chip
designs and executable specifications. Within several years, back-ends were
developed to perform logic synthesis.
Current status[edit]
Main articles: Integrated circuit design, Design closure, and Design flow (EDA)
Current digital flows are extremely modular, with front ends producing standardized
design descriptions that compile into invocations of units similar to cells without
regard to their individual technology. Cells implement logic or other electronic
functions via the utilisation of a particular integrated circuit technology. Fabricators
generally provide libraries of components for their production processes, with
simulation models that fit standard simulation tools.
Most analog circuits are still designed in a manual fashion, requiring specialist
knowledge that is unique to analog design (such as matching concepts). Hence, [2]
analog EDA tools are far less modular, since many more functions are required, they
interact more strongly and the components are, in general, less ideal.
EDA for electronics has rapidly increased in importance with the continuous scaling
of semiconductor technology. Some users are foundry operators, who operate
[3]
the semiconductor fabrication facilities ("fabs") and additional individuals responsible
for utilising the technology design-service companies who use EDA software to
evaluate an incoming design for manufacturing readiness. EDA tools are also used
for programming design functionality into FPGAs or field-programmable gate arrays,
customisable integrated circuit designs.
Software focuses[edit]
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve it to make it
understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (February 2017) (Learn how and when
to remove this template message)
Jump to navigationJump to search
"ECAD" redirects here. For the Brazilian organization, see ECAD (Brazil). For other
uses, see ECAD (disambiguation).
"Electronic design" redirects here. For the magazine, see Electronic Design
(magazine).
Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-
aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing electronic
[1]
systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools work
together in a design flow that chip designers use to design and analyze
entire semiconductor chips. Since a modern semiconductor chip can have billions of
components, EDA tools are essential for their design; this article in particular
describes EDA specifically with respect to integrated circuits (ICs).
History[edit]
Early days[edit]
Prior to the development of EDA, integrated circuits were designed by hand and
manually laid out. Some advanced shops used geometric software to generate tapes
for a Gerber photoplotter, responsible for generating a monochromatic exposure
image, but even those copied digital recordings of mechanically drawn components.
The process was fundamentally graphic, with the translation from electronics to
graphics done manually; the best-known company from this era was Calma,
whose GDSII format is still in use today. By the mid-1970s, developers started to
automate circuit design in addition to drafting and the first placement and
routing tools were developed; as this occurred, the proceedings of the Design
Automation Conference catalogued the large majority of the developments of the
time.
The next era began following the publication of "Introduction to VLSI Systems"
by Carver Mead and Lynn Conway in 1980; this groundbreaking text advocated chip
design with programming languages that compiled to silicon. The immediate result
was a considerable increase in the complexity of the chips that could be designed,
with improved access to design verification tools that used logic simulation. Often the
chips were easier to lay out and more likely to function correctly, since their designs
could be simulated more thoroughly prior to construction. Although the languages
and tools have evolved, this general approach of specifying the desired behavior in a
textual programming language and letting the tools derive the detailed physical
design remains the basis of digital IC design today.
The earliest EDA tools were produced academically. One of the most famous was
the "Berkeley VLSI Tools Tarball", a set of UNIX utilities used to design early VLSI
systems. Still widely used are the Espresso heuristic logic minimizer, responsible for
circuit complexity reductions and Magic, a computer-aided design platform. Another
crucial development was the formation of MOSIS, a consortium of universities and
fabricators that developed an inexpensive way to train student chip designers by
, producing real integrated circuits. The basic concept was to use reliable, low-cost,
relatively low-technology IC processes and pack a large number of projects
per wafer, with several copies of chips from each project remaining preserved.
Cooperating fabricators either donated the processed wafers or sold them at cost, as
they saw the program helpful to their own long-term growth.
Birth of commercial EDA[edit]
See also: Productivity-improving technologies § Semiconductor device fabrication
1981 marked the beginning of EDA as an industry. For many years, the larger
electronic companies, such as Hewlett Packard, Tektronix and Intel, had pursued
EDA internally, with managers and developers beginning to spin out of these
companies to concentrate on EDA as a business. Daisy Systems, Mentor
Graphics and Valid Logic Systems were all founded around this time and collectively
referred to as DMV. In 1981, the U.S. Department of Defense additionally began
funding of VHDL as a hardware description language. Within a few years, there were
many companies specializing in EDA, each with a slightly different emphasis.
The first trade show for EDA was held at the Design Automation Conference in 1984
and in 1986, Verilog, another popular high-level design language, was first
introduced as a hardware description language by Gateway Design Automation.
Simulators quickly followed these introductions, permitting direct simulation of chip
designs and executable specifications. Within several years, back-ends were
developed to perform logic synthesis.
Current status[edit]
Main articles: Integrated circuit design, Design closure, and Design flow (EDA)
Current digital flows are extremely modular, with front ends producing standardized
design descriptions that compile into invocations of units similar to cells without
regard to their individual technology. Cells implement logic or other electronic
functions via the utilisation of a particular integrated circuit technology. Fabricators
generally provide libraries of components for their production processes, with
simulation models that fit standard simulation tools.
Most analog circuits are still designed in a manual fashion, requiring specialist
knowledge that is unique to analog design (such as matching concepts). Hence, [2]
analog EDA tools are far less modular, since many more functions are required, they
interact more strongly and the components are, in general, less ideal.
EDA for electronics has rapidly increased in importance with the continuous scaling
of semiconductor technology. Some users are foundry operators, who operate
[3]
the semiconductor fabrication facilities ("fabs") and additional individuals responsible
for utilising the technology design-service companies who use EDA software to
evaluate an incoming design for manufacturing readiness. EDA tools are also used
for programming design functionality into FPGAs or field-programmable gate arrays,
customisable integrated circuit designs.
Software focuses[edit]
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve it to make it
understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (February 2017) (Learn how and when
to remove this template message)
