Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that engineers at Hitachi, Ltd. successfully implemented a new system-level verification environment for Ethernet routing/switching products using the Cadence® Incisive® Palladium® transaction-based acceleration technology. The new environment, based on the Palladium emulation system and the Incisive Enterprise Simulator, increases performance by potentially 100 times over previous HDL simulation. The environment supports con strained-random test generation and offers greater control and visibility over the simulation, debugging and verification process.

Sean Murphy is well known in EDA as a consultant, entrepreneurial adviser, and commentator. His background in software engineering, project management, and business development translate into a deep understanding of both the unique and universal aspects of the business of electronic design automation. Murphy has a BS in Mathematical Sciences and an MS in Engineering-Economic Systems, both from Stanford.

I spoke with Sean before DAC 2010. Our conversation focused solely on the Art & Magic of Marketing in EDA.

Financial analysis is a demanding task. It requires not only a knowledge of accounting and statistics, but also a deep understanding of the industry and the impact of the overall financial conditions on its results. The EDA industry is a small sector in the financial world, and yet quires some knowledge, or at least appreciation, for the engineering principles it applies and the physical laws it must respect.

Hello everyone – below is the latest detailed analysis of the EDA industry, based on the just-released EDA Consortium (EDAC) market statistics. The EDAC data disclose product category and geographic revenues, to which I add bookings, industry forecast, and industry profitability comments.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that Japanese giant Casio Computer Co. has adopted Cadence® front-end system, design, and verification technologies to develop a system LSI for digital cameras. Casio reported reduced design cycle time and improved design quality for this chip. The Casio success highlights the type of technology needed to close the "productivity gap" faced by most development teams.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that STMicroelectronics, a global leader in integrated circuits for communications, consumer, computer, automotive and industrial applications, has standardized on Cadence® QRC Extraction for their 40-nanometer custom/analog designs. A key component of the Cadence digital and analog/mixed signal design flow, QRC Extraction enables faster turnaround time, scalability through its multi-core backplane, increased accuracy to silicon and capabilities to address the needs for advanced layout parasitic extraction in leading-edge technology node design.

When Magma decided to become a leading provider of analog and mixed/signal tools, it knew it was in for a fight. And, that the task would require both time and money. Now over two years later, it has become a highly competitive supplier of design tools for these markets and is challenging the competition for the leading supplier role. The key to such achievement is not only outstanding product architecture and capabilities, but also great market analysis and the absolute desire to listen to its customers requirements.

As part of its services to its members, and to a lesser extent to the EDA industry in general, the EDA Consortium (EDAC) publishes a quarterly Market Statistics Service (MSS). The latest report, that usually is published about three months from the close of the covered quarter, has been made public today. The 1Q2010 industry revenue was $1247 million, a 4.6 percent increase compared to $1192.1 million in Q1 2009. Sequential EDA revenue declined 1.2 percent, while over the last four quarters it declined 5.9 percent.

Venice Florida is not, at least not yet, the worldwide center for the design, development, and manufacturing of Integrated Circuits. But, as the globalization of the industry proves, it is not important where one is, it is important what one can produce. The view from Silicon Beach is unimpaired by mountains, valleys, forests, and boulders: a perfect place to ponder the panorama, to correlate happenings, to extrapolate the future.

Mentor Graphics Corporation announced the signing of an exclusive, worldwide agreement with automotive electronics systems and components provider, Magneti Marelli. Valor, a division of Mentor and a global provider of productivity improvement software across the printed circuit board manufacturing supply chain, will supply its vManageT solutions for traceability of the entire production process, from the screen printer to the Surface Mount Technology (SMT) component placement machine at the company's multiple global locations. The agreement is the culmination of a partnership which, eighteen months ago, saw Magneti Marelli decide to expand its Valor® vManage installations for assembly traceability and feeder verification worldwide, including manufacturing sites in Italy, Spain, and Mexico.