Applying EDA Concepts Outside Chip Design

Applying EDA Concepts Outside Chip Design
by Bernard Murphy on 10-11-2015 at 7:00 am

(I changed the title of this piece as an experiment) Paul McLellan recently wrote on the topic of new ventures crossing the chasm (getting from initial but bounded success to a proven scalable business). That got me to thinking about the EDA market in general. In some ways it has a similar problem, stuck at $5B or so and single-digit… Read More


Getting EDA Across the Chasm: 15 Rules Before and 5 After

Getting EDA Across the Chasm: 15 Rules Before and 5 After
by Paul McLellan on 10-02-2015 at 7:00 am

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore (not that G. Moore!) is one of the most well known books on high technology marketing. When I worked at VaST, Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV) invested in us and Moore (not Mohr), who was a partner there, spent an afternoon with us brainstorming what it would take for us to cross the chasm. Coincidentally,… Read More


EDA By the Numbers, Phil Kaufman, Emerging Companies and More

EDA By the Numbers, Phil Kaufman, Emerging Companies and More
by Paul McLellan on 10-01-2015 at 7:00 am

The quarterly numbers are out from the EDAC Market Statistics Service (MSS) for Q2. The headline number is that revenue for the industry increased by 8.5% for Q2 to $1906.5M versus $1759.9M in Q2 last year. The four quarter moving average, that smooths out a lot of seasonality by comparing the most recent four quarters to the prior… Read More


All Models Are Wrong, Some Are Useful

All Models Are Wrong, Some Are Useful
by Paul McLellan on 09-15-2015 at 7:00 am

“All models are wrong, some are useful.” This remark is attributed to the statistician George Box who used it as the section heading in a paper published in 1976.

Just for fun I looked up a few semiconductor statistics from 1976. Total capital spending was $238M in Japan and $306M in US and…that’s it, there was nobody else back then … Read More


Improve SoC Front-end Design Productivity

Improve SoC Front-end Design Productivity
by Khan Kibria on 09-06-2015 at 4:00 pm

I have been involved in SoC developments for a long time. During this period I tried to learn what impacts the productivity and subsequently the market opportunity. Over the last year or so at SoCScape I have been involved designing solutions that can improve them. I have decided to post some of my thoughts here in a series of blogs … Read More


Business Models: EDA Is Software But It Used To Be Sold As Hardware

Business Models: EDA Is Software But It Used To Be Sold As Hardware
by Paul McLellan on 09-03-2015 at 7:00 am

Business models are really important. Just ask any internet startup company that has lots of eyeballs and is trying to work out how to monetize them. It is a lot easier to get people to use something for free, much harder to get people to pay for something especially when they don’t value it much. Different companies that look… Read More


A Security Idea for EDA / Embedded Design

A Security Idea for EDA / Embedded Design
by Bernard Murphy on 08-25-2015 at 4:00 pm

I’m on a mission to find novel ideas for EDA / embedded design tools. One I have been discussing on and off with a DARPA friend for at least a couple of years is how to grade the security of a hardware design or, more comprehensively, the security of an embedded system including hardware and the software running on the hardware.

This feels… Read More


My Tryst with Semiconductors and EDA

My Tryst with Semiconductors and EDA
by Pawan Fangaria on 08-19-2015 at 4:00 pm

Yes, today I realize it feels like a tryst with semiconductors. In actual meaning; it wasn’t a love affair with semiconductors, but I must say the greatest thing it taught me about how it approaches towards perfection. And that became the guiding principle in my life; how can I do something better. Of course nothing is perfect in life… Read More


My Candid Conversation with Karen Bartleson

My Candid Conversation with Karen Bartleson
by Pawan Fangaria on 08-16-2015 at 7:30 am

If you don’t know about Karen Bartleson, before I get into details, let me tell you that she was the President of IEEE-SA for the past 2 years and has been nominated by the IEEE Board of Directors as one of the candidates for IEEE President-Elect for 2016. The IEEE is an organization I admire as it plays a key role in advancing technology… Read More


What Does Legal Sea Foods Have to Do With EDA?

What Does Legal Sea Foods Have to Do With EDA?
by Paul McLellan on 08-11-2015 at 7:00 am

When I drive down to Silicon Valley I usually listen to podcasts rather than just listen to the radio. One that I especially like is Russ Robert’s EconTalk, which has an hour-long episode every Monday morning on a wide range of different aspects of Economics. Normally he interviews an economist. He has also interviewed the… Read More