CAD/CAM/CAE : electronic design automation, 1992 - Archive Server

Executive Summary 1-3
The renewed interest in consumer electrorucs will drive all geographic
areas to increase their reliance upon EDA tools that
improve the manufacturability, quality, and long-term reliability of
electronic products.
Dataquest Perspective
Electronic designers are vtnder increasing pressure to create costeffective,
complex systems in shorter amounts of time than ever
before. The primary weapon that the project team may wield is the
suite of design tools that rest upon the engineer's desk. The first
generation of design tools consisted of schematic capture, layout, and
simulation tools. These design tools continue to hold high importance
value to the electroruc designer; but they may be viewed as a replacement
market because users do not have a need to increase the number
of licenses they currently own. The next generation of tools—
consisting of top-down design tools like logic synthesis, hardware
description language (HDL)-based entry, mixed-level simulation, and
test automation—are beginning to be employed by the mainstream
designer. Dataquest believes that the next opportunity for EDA software
growth lies in the untapped population of system architects.
Indeed, the system definition and partitioning phase of the design
consumes 22 percent of the design worldwide; there exist few tools
targeted at this area of the design cycle. The ability to design and
prototjTpe complex electronic products at the system level, prior to
lower-level design optimization, may become a crucial capability in
the project team's quest for shorter design cycles.
CCAM-EDA-UW-9201 ©1992 Dataquest Incotporated November 30,1992