Register on or before May 19th to receive 20% off Conference Registration or for a FREE Exhibit Pass!

Register on-line today!

Who's Exhibiting at DAC? Look to see who the new exhibiting companies are.

45th DAC Program Now Available on the website.

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The DACeZine also has a Letters to the Editor section to allow for shorter contributions to the contents and directions of the publication. When necessary, answers to the letters will come from the appropriate member of the team (including our readers), since I do not (yet) hold the total knowledge of the industry within me. I encourage all of you to write, either a viewpoint or a letter, and state your opinions on matters that impact our industry, the contents of this publication, or, for that matter, the publication itself. Send your letters to: dacezine@dac.com.

I hope you enjoy this DACeZine issue and pass it along to your friends and colleagues: I am sure they will want to subscribe as well. They can do so by visiting the www.dac.com web page.

Learning and Networking in Anaheim

By Gabe Moretti, Editor

DAC is almost here: May 19 is the last day for the early registration discount!  Go to www.dac.com and take advantage of the opportunity!

Another new feature in this year’s DAC program is the Exhibitor Forum, where exhibitors present in-depth looks at the latest technology, tool and methodology offerings, focused around hot topics such as low-power design, analog/RF design, and verification.   You can see the details by following the links: Conference Program/Special Offerings/Exhibitor Forum on the DAC web site.

If you visualize the EDA industry as a growing, majestic tree, startups are its sap.  Startups find new nutrients, distribute energy throughout the system, and foster the growth of new branches.  The Sap of EDA gives you a list of the new exhibitors at DAC and directions to their web sites and booths.  Exhibiting at DAC for the first time is challenging, exciting, and a bit scary.  But to attendees, a new company or organization on the floor represents new possible solutions to design problems, new methods to enhance productivity, or even new business opportunities.

To get acquainted with another of the keynote speakers (remember we introduced Justin Rattner in the May 1 issue) read EDA: Monkey in the Middle by Ed Sperling. Sanjay Jha, chief operating officer at Qualcomm, has a very interesting perspective on the role EDA will play in the not too distant future.  You will be able to read Ed’s interview with Jack Little in the upcoming May 29 issue.

The Workshop for Women in Design Automation has grown to be one of the most important workshops at the conference.  Go to Networking, Negotiation & Nonsense to read the attention-grabbing description by Peggy Aycinena of this event and what experiences may await in Anaheim.

Of course, there are many other collocated events during DAC.  Readers of this issue may be particularly interested in the seventh annual OSCI Symposium on ESL design with SystemC, or the traditional Accellera breakfast with its always fascinating and entertaining panel.  Go to the respective web sites for details and registration.

Speaking of events, read Lunch with a Distinguished Speaker and put this CEDA event on your schedule.  If you have never heard Dr. Robert Brayton, do not miss the opportunity.  Interesting and entertaining are not qualities often associated with an engineering luncheon speech.  Dr. Brayton is both and quite unassuming to boot.

Tela Innovations, one of the new exhibitors at DAC, offers a Viewpoint that I choose to think of as Complex Complexity: NOT. The Romans had it right.  Straight avenues, oriented by the four major cardinal points, are the most effective way to connect city blocks.  Neal Carney takes this concept into engineering terms when discussing IC layout in leading-edge CMOS processes.

Although Nusym is not a new exhibitor, it has a new product they believe will enhance verification by improving coverage and shortening turnaround times.  Read Dumb to Intelligent Again by that monument of EDA business who is Venk Shukla, and you will want to drop by and debate the finer points of verification with someone that made Verilog a household name.