Monthly Archives: February 2009

DFM: Design for manufacturing

Yesterday I gave a brief overview of lithography and the need for DFM tools to calculate and verify what needs to go on the mask so that we end up with what we want on the die. The need to … Continue reading

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Lithography for dummies (well, us EDA guys)

You probably already know that designs are transferred onto chips using a photographic process. The wafer is coated in a solution called photoresist and then exposed to light passed through a “mask” which alters its chemical composition. The exposed (or … Continue reading

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Request

I’m actually on vacation in Mexico next week, in fact I should be on a plane as you read this, but we never go dark here and the blog will continue under autopilot. In fact it will be lithography week, … Continue reading

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One hit wonders

Venture capitalists have the concept of a zombie. Just like in the movies, a zombie company is one of the living dead. It is a company that is not burning through cash, and so is not going to go bankrupt … Continue reading

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Survival of the fittest EDA companies

It’s the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birthday today. Not to mention Abraham Lincoln’s. On a personal note, Darwin went to university at Edinburgh and then Cambridge (the real one in England, not that one near Boston), as did I but … Continue reading

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The book that changed everything

Until 1979, IC design was done by specialists who understood every aspect of the design from semiconductor fabrication, transistor characteristics, all the way up to small blocks of a maybe a thousand gates which was the limit of chip fabrication … Continue reading

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EDA: not boring enough

EDA is fun. Innovation is fun and not many businesses require as much innovation as EDA. Working in an EDA startup in particular was (and still can be) a lot of fun because the ratio of innovation to meetings, company … Continue reading

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Magma must die

Actually, it doesn’t need to be Magma. I just agree with Isadore that it would be better for EDA if one of the full-line EDA suppliers went away. Magma is taking on the mantle of sick man of the industry … Continue reading

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Guest Blog: Isadore Katz

Today’s guest blog is from Isadore Katz, CEO of CLK Design Automation. He has been in EDA for 20 years at Chrysalis, Cadence, Metasoft (Hspice) and even escaping EDA for a time as CEO of Lightchip before the gravitational pull of … Continue reading

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He who goes first loses

Earlier we had guest blog entries from Lauro Rizzatti of EVE and Chi-Ping Hsu of Cadence on whether innovation occurs in small or large companies. I’ve always maintained that the problem is a different one. I think it is clear … Continue reading

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