Lauro Rizzatti, General Manager EVE-USA, EVE

From all accounts, the economy is in recovery mode, with the semiconductor industry forcefully and aggressively driving this phenomenon. All indicators are positive and continue to be so. Capital equipment spending, for example, is on the rise, with an expected 45% growth in 2010, according to Gartner Inc. Japan, Korea and China are doing well economically and we expect the rest of the world to follow suit quite soon. Retail sales figures are starting to climb again as consumer confidence rises and we begin spending.

Additionally, consumer electronics may once more be the red-hot commodity product segment. That’s due in large measure to the latest high-definition graphics capabilities that make them irresistible. But high-definition requires more processing power from embedded processors, and more powerful processors allow for more feature-loaded application programs.

All this bodes well for EDA in 2010 since high-definition graphics and embedded processors necessitate new designs. Perhaps most telling is that there is no indication that design complexity is slowing. In fact, the recession has done nothing to hinder the new design challenges.

We’ve talked with numerous project teams over the last several months. In every case, they have new designs in the pipeline that are more complex than ever before. They are adding new features, expanding the capabilities of their existing products and need to get these products to market faster than ever before, all of which totals more complex designs.
Consider as an example the evolution of the system-on-chip (SoC) at the heart of a typical camcorder. At the turn of the millennium, it averaged approximately one-million ASIC gates. Ten years later, it is pushing the envelope past 50-million ASIC gates -- a growth of 50 times in less than 10 years.

As well, some new players are emerging in the processor market, offering up more opportunities for EDA. Who would have guessed not that long ago that Apple would make the decision to develop its own processor, after outsourcing this effort for many years? Well, it acquired P.A. Semiconductor in 2008 and re-entered the processor business. This, too, bodes well for the EDA community.

Today, design complexity more often than not means the integration of hardware and embedded software, especially s software becomes a product differentiator. This type of complexity always equates to a need for all things verification, notably emulation. Some new generations of emulators are capable of handling up to one-billion application ASIC gates, making them the only choice for project teams developing the ultimate processor and graphics.

Gartner’s positive data is welcome news for EDA as it reports a strong growth spurt within the semiconductor industry and a move to technology upgrades. As a result, the year 2010 should be a good one for EDA. Let’s make certain that we take full advantage of it by offering the tools to meet the latest design challenges!