Revolution EDA: A New EDA Mindset for a New Era

Murat Eskiyerli, PhD, is the founder of Revolution EDA  

Modern software development environments have evolved dramatically. A developer can download Visual Studio Code, install a few plugins, and be productive within minutes. The cost? Perhaps a few hundred dollars per month for cloud development resources. Compare that to custom integrated circuit design, where $50,000 per engineer per year is the minimum entry point—and that’s before considering the learning curve, vendor lock-in, and integration headaches that have persisted since the early 1990s.  

The scripting languages that underpin major EDA tools reflect this stagnation: SKILL is a LISP variant from the 1960s; Tcl dates to 1988. More significantly, expertise in these languages is increasingly rare, creating another barrier to entry and innovation.  

This is why Revolution EDA exists, with the tagline “A new EDA mindset for a new era.”  

The Open-Source Core Philosophy  

Revolution EDA takes inspiration from the VS Code model: an open-source core platform that can be extended through a vibrant plugin ecosystem. The core is written in Python—the lingua franca of AI and scientific computing—making it immediately accessible to a new generation of designers and enabling seamless integration with modern machine learning workflows.  

The common design platform is completely free and open source1. Plugin developers are free to define their own licensing models, just as they do in the VS Code ecosystem. Some can be free; others can serve as gateways to commercial services or foundry-specific offerings. Using tools like Nuitka, closed-source plugins can be distributed as binaries, protecting proprietary IP while maintaining the open core model.  

No databases but plain-text JSON  

Most EDA tools rely on binary databases—opaque blobs that can corrupt, that clash with modern version control systems like Git, and that require constant export-import cycles for AI tools to understand them. Revolution EDA uses only JSON to store all design data: configuration, cellviews, in fact everything.  

This isn’t just a technical choice; it’s strategic. JSON is ubiquitous, and LLMs are trained on massive amounts of JSON data. As generative AI becomes essential to IC design workflows, Revolution EDA designs are natively AI-readable and AI-writable. No translation layer, no data format friction. Your designs can be inspected, modified, and version-controlled using standard text editors and Git workflows.  

Core Capabilities  

Revolution EDA provides a complete front-end design environment with hierarchical schematic and layout editors. Key features include:  

Schematic capabilities: Advanced symbol creation with instance parameters that can be Python functions for dynamic calculation. Symbols can be auto-generated from schematics and Verilog-A modules. Configuration views are editable with the Config Editor enabling flexible netlisting without modifying designs.  

Layout editor: Full hierarchical layout with rectangles, polygons, paths, pins, labels, vias, and Python-based parametric cells. Layer management, rulers, and GDS import/export are built in.  

Python integration: Labels can reference Python functions for sophisticated instance callbacks. Parametric layout cells are also written in Python without the overhead of proprietary solutions.  

Library management: Familiar browser interface for creating, organizing, and managing libraries, cells, and views (schematic, symbol, layout, config, spice, veriloga).  

Two existing plugins extend the core functionality. Revedasim provides point-and-click simulation using Xyce, with plans to support additional analog and mixed-signal simulators. Revedaplot delivers visualization of simulation data—it can plot a half-gigabyte data file in under three seconds.  

The Path Forward: PDKs and Foundry Partnerships  

Today, front-end PDKs are available for IHP and GlobalFoundries OpenPDKs. The next release will integrate DRC/LVS capabilities through KLayout and Netgen. Users are already requesting Calibre integration, which would complete a foundry-acceptable design flow.  

Here’s what’s crucial to understand: Revolution EDA being open-source does not require PDKs to be open-source. Like plugins, PDKs can be offered as binaries or encrypted files, giving foundries complete IP protection. We’re actively seeking partnerships with foundries to develop and validate commercial PDKs.  

This is where the opportunity lies. For foundries, supporting Revolution EDA means:  

Enabling a new generation of designers and startups who are currently priced out of custom IC design  

Gaining a platform that’s natively compatible with AI-driven design flows  

Participating in an ecosystem rather than maintaining yet another proprietary tool integration  

Offering PDKs as commercial products within the plugin model  

For design engineers and nascent startups working on analog/mixed-signal designs, it means breaking free from six-figure or more annual EDA costs while still having a path to foundry-quality designs.  

Production Reality  

Revolution EDA is in active development. The core platform is stable enough for early adopters to explore and experiment. The plugin ecosystem is nascent—think of this as the VS Code of 2015, not 2024. What we’re offering isn’t a drop-in replacement for established flows yet, but rather an invitation to help shape what custom IC design tools should become.  

The question isn’t whether traditional EDA vendors will continue to serve large design houses—they will. The question is whether the next generation of IC innovation will come from teams that can afford $50K+ per seat, or whether we’ll enable orders of magnitude more designers to participate in custom silicon design.  

Try It Yourself  

Revolution EDA runs on Windows and Linux. If you’re already using Python, installation is simple: pip install revolution-eda. Binaries are available for download, and the complete source code is on GitHub.  

We’re looking for early adopters, plugin developers, and most importantly, foundry partners willing to develop commercial PDKs. If you’re curious about what modern IC design tools could be, or if you’re interested in enabling the next wave of custom silicon innovation, visit https://reveda.eu/contact.  

The EDA industry has operated on the same fundamental model for three decades. Revolution EDA is asking a simple question: what if we started fresh, with modern languages, open architectures, and AI-native formats?  

The revolution won’t happen overnight. But it has to start somewhere.  

 

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