Cadence Design Systems
Encyclopedia
Cadence Design Systems, Inc is an electronic design automation
(EDA) software and engineering services company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc. For years it had been the largest company in the EDA industry producing software for designing chips and printed circuit boards.
, is one of the world's leading suppliers of electronic design technologies and engineering services in the electronic design automation (EDA)
industry. The primary corporate product is software used to design chips and printed circuit boards.
Cadence employs 5,600 people and reported 2010 revenues of approximately $936 million. In November 2007 Cadence was named one of the 50 Best Places to Work in Silicon Valley by San Jose Magazine.
In January 2009 the company announced the appointment of Lip-Bu Tan as President and CEO. Tan was most recently CEO of Walden International, a VC firm, and remains in this position. He has served on the Cadence Board of Directors since 2004, where he served on the Technology Committee for four years.
In addition to EDA software, Cadence provides contracted methodology and design services as well as silicon design IP, and has a program to make it easier for other EDA software to interoperate with the company's tools.
Cadence was involved in a long running (6 years) legal dispute with Avanti Corporation
, in which Cadence claimed Avant! stole Cadence code, and Avant! denied it. According to Business Week "The Avant! case is probably the most dramatic tale of white-collar crime in the history of Silicon Valley". The Avant! executives eventually plead no contest and Cadence received several hundred million dollars in restitution. Avant! was then purchased by Synopsys
, which paid $265 million more to settle the remaining claims. The case resulted in a number of legal precedents.
The Cadence group Quickturn was also involved in an unusual series of legal events with Mentor Graphics
/Aptix. Mentor purchased rights to an Aptix patent, then sued Cadence. In this case, the CEO of Aptix, Amr Mohsen, forged a notebook in order to make the patent case stronger. When suspicions were raised, he staged a break-in of his own car to get rid of the evidence, resulting in charges of obstruction of justice. Trying to avoid this, he attempted to flee the country, only to be caught with an illegal passport and a pile of cash. While in jail for this offense, he was recorded offering money to intimidate witnesses and kill the judge. In order to fight these charges, he tried to show psychological problems, but left a trail of evidence of his research into this defense, and how it might be done. He was charged with attempting to delay a federal trial by feigning incompetency, but was convicted anyway. According to the lawyers concerned, the original notebooks were not needed for the trial. The patent filing date, which was not in dispute, would have sufficed.
, High Level Design (HLD), UniCAD, Cooper and Chyan (CCT), Quickturn, CadMOS, Simplex, Silicon Perspective, Plato, Get2Chip and Verplex Systems. The latest major activity is:
Electronic design automation
Electronic design automation is a category of software tools for designing electronic systems such as printed circuit boards and integrated circuits...
(EDA) software and engineering services company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc. For years it had been the largest company in the EDA industry producing software for designing chips and printed circuit boards.
Overview
Cadence, headquartered in San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, is one of the world's leading suppliers of electronic design technologies and engineering services in the electronic design automation (EDA)
Electronic design automation
Electronic design automation is a category of software tools for designing electronic systems such as printed circuit boards and integrated circuits...
industry. The primary corporate product is software used to design chips and printed circuit boards.
Cadence employs 5,600 people and reported 2010 revenues of approximately $936 million. In November 2007 Cadence was named one of the 50 Best Places to Work in Silicon Valley by San Jose Magazine.
Product Families
Cadence's product offerings are targeted at various types of design and verification tasks which include:- Virtuoso Platform - Tools for designing full-custom integrated circuitIntegrated circuitAn integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s; includes schematic entry, behavioral modeling (Verilog-AMSVerilog-AMSVerilog-AMS is a derivative of the Verilog hardware description language. It includes analog and mixed-signal extensions in order to define the behavior of analog and mixed-signal systems. It extends the event-based simulator loops of Verilog/SystemVerilog/VHDL, by a continuous-time simulator,...
), circuit simulation, full custom layout, physical verification, extraction and back-annotation. Used mainly for analog, mixed-signal, RFRadio frequencyRadio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
, and standard-cell designs, but also memoryMemoryIn psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
and FPGAField-programmable gate arrayA field-programmable gate array is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by the customer or designer after manufacturing—hence "field-programmable"...
designs. - Encounter Platform - Tools for creation of digitalDigitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
integrated circuitIntegrated circuitAn integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s. This includes floorplanning, synthesisLogic synthesisIn electronics, logic synthesis is a process by which an abstract form of desired circuit behavior, typically register transfer level , is turned into a design implementation in terms of logic gates. Common examples of this process include synthesis of HDLs, including VHDL and Verilog...
, testDesign For TestDesign for Test is a name for design techniques that add certain testability features to a microelectronic hardware product design. The premise of the added features is that they make it easier to develop and apply manufacturing tests for the designed hardware...
, and place and routePlace and routePlace and route is a stage in the design of printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, and field-programmable gate arrays. As implied by the name, it is composed of two steps, placement and routing. The first step, placement, involves deciding where to place all electronic components, circuitry,...
. Typically a digital design starts from VerilogVerilogIn the semiconductor and electronic design industry, Verilog is a hardware description language used to model electronic systems. Verilog HDL, not to be confused with VHDL , is most commonly used in the design, verification, and implementation of digital logic chips at the register-transfer level...
netlists.. - Incisive Platform - Tools for simulationSimulationSimulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
and functional verificationFunctional verificationFunctional verification, in electronic design automation, is the task of verifying that the logic design conforms to specification. In everyday terms, functional verification attempts to answer the question "Does this proposed design do what is intended?" This is a complex task, and takes the...
of RTL including VerilogVerilogIn the semiconductor and electronic design industry, Verilog is a hardware description language used to model electronic systems. Verilog HDL, not to be confused with VHDL , is most commonly used in the design, verification, and implementation of digital logic chips at the register-transfer level...
, VHDL and SystemCSystemCSystemC is a set of C++ classes and macros which provide an event-driven simulation kernel in C++ . These facilities enable a designer to simulate concurrent processes, each described using plain C++ syntax...
based models. Includes formal verificationFormal verificationIn the context of hardware and software systems, formal verification is the act of proving or disproving the correctness of intended algorithms underlying a system with respect to a certain formal specification or property, using formal methods of mathematics .- Usage :Formal verification can be...
, formal equivalence checkingFormal equivalence checkingFormal equivalence checking process is a part of electronic design automation , commonly used during the development of digital integrated circuits, to formally prove that two representations of a circuit design exhibit exactly the same behavior....
, hardware accelerationHardware accelerationIn computing, Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some function faster than is possible in software running on the general-purpose CPU...
, and emulationEmulatorIn computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
. - Verification IP (VIP) Cadence provides the broadest set of commercial VIP available with over 30 protocols in its VIP Portfolio. They include AMBAAdvanced Microcontroller Bus ArchitectureThe Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture is used as the on-chip bus in system-on-a-chip designs. Since its inception, the scope of AMBA has gone far beyond microcontroller devices, and is now widely used on a range of ASIC and SoC parts including applications processors used in modern...
, PCI ExpressPCI ExpressPCI Express , officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a computer expansion card standard designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X, and AGP bus standards...
, USB, SATASataSata is a traditional dish from the Malaysian state of Terengganu, consisting of spiced fish meat wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on a grill.It is a type of Malaysian fish cake, or otak-otak...
, OCP, SASSerial Attached SCSISerial Attached SCSI is a computer bus used to move data to and from computer storage devices such as hard drives and tape drives. SAS depends on a point-to-point serial protocol that replaces the parallel SCSI bus technology that first appeared in the mid 1980s in data centers and workstations,...
, MIPIMobile Industry Processor InterfaceThe Mobile Industry Processor Interface Alliance is an open membership organization that includes leading companies in the mobile industry that share the objective of defining and promoting open specifications for interfaces inside mobile terminals.Formed in July 2003 by Intel, Nokia, Samsung,...
and many others. Cadence VIP also provides the unique Compliance Management System (CMS) to automate protocol compliance verification. - Integration Optimized IP (Design IP) Cadence offers Vertically Integrated IP, inclusive of Digital Controller, Serdes Layer, and Device Driver. Protocols supported include USB, DDR, PCI-Express, 10G-40G Ethernet, and On Chip Bus Fabric.
- Allegro Platform - Tools for co-design of integrated circuitIntegrated circuitAn integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s, packages, and PCBPrinted circuit boardA printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
s. - OrCADOrCADOrCAD is a proprietary software tool suite used primarily for electronic design automation. The software is used mainly to create electronic prints for manufacturing of printed circuit boards, by electronic design engineers and electronic technicians to manufacture electronic schematics.The name...
/PSpicePSPICEPSpice is a SPICE analog circuit and digital logic simulation program for Microsoft Windows. The name is an acronym for Personal Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis.- History :...
- Tools for smaller design teams and individual PCB designers.
In addition to EDA software, Cadence provides contracted methodology and design services as well as silicon design IP, and has a program to make it easier for other EDA software to interoperate with the company's tools.
Lawsuits with Avant! and Mentor/Aptix
As a large public company, Cadence has been involved in a number of legal disputes. Two in particular are notable:Cadence was involved in a long running (6 years) legal dispute with Avanti Corporation
Avanti Corporation
Avanti Corporation was an electronic design automation company, purchased by Synopsys in 2002...
, in which Cadence claimed Avant! stole Cadence code, and Avant! denied it. According to Business Week "The Avant! case is probably the most dramatic tale of white-collar crime in the history of Silicon Valley". The Avant! executives eventually plead no contest and Cadence received several hundred million dollars in restitution. Avant! was then purchased by Synopsys
Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...
, which paid $265 million more to settle the remaining claims. The case resulted in a number of legal precedents.
The Cadence group Quickturn was also involved in an unusual series of legal events with Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics, Inc is a US-based multinational corporation dealing in electronic design automation for electrical engineering and electronics, as of 2004, ranked third in the EDA industry it helped create...
/Aptix. Mentor purchased rights to an Aptix patent, then sued Cadence. In this case, the CEO of Aptix, Amr Mohsen, forged a notebook in order to make the patent case stronger. When suspicions were raised, he staged a break-in of his own car to get rid of the evidence, resulting in charges of obstruction of justice. Trying to avoid this, he attempted to flee the country, only to be caught with an illegal passport and a pile of cash. While in jail for this offense, he was recorded offering money to intimidate witnesses and kill the judge. In order to fight these charges, he tried to show psychological problems, but left a trail of evidence of his research into this defense, and how it might be done. He was charged with attempting to delay a federal trial by feigning incompetency, but was convicted anyway. According to the lawyers concerned, the original notebooks were not needed for the trial. The patent filing date, which was not in dispute, would have sufficed.
Acquisitions and mergers
Cadence has been involved with many mergers and acquisitions. Some of the larger examples of companies merged in or acquired are: Valid Logic SystemsValid Logic Systems
Valid Logic Systems was one of the first commercial EDA electronic design automation companies. It was founded in the early 1980s, along with Daisy Systems Corporation and Mentor Graphics, collectively known as DMV....
, High Level Design (HLD), UniCAD, Cooper and Chyan (CCT), Quickturn, CadMOS, Simplex, Silicon Perspective, Plato, Get2Chip and Verplex Systems. The latest major activity is:
- June 17, 2010: Cadence completes acquisition of Denali SoftwareDenali SoftwareDenali Software, Inc. is an American software company, based in Sunnyvale, California. The company produces electronic design automation software, intellectual property and design cores and platforms for memory, other standard interfaces and system-on-chip design and verification. It has its...
- August 15, 2008: Cadence withdrew a $1.6 billion offer to purchase rival Mentor GraphicsMentor GraphicsMentor Graphics, Inc is a US-based multinational corporation dealing in electronic design automation for electrical engineering and electronics, as of 2004, ranked third in the EDA industry it helped create...
- March 11, 2008: acquired ChipEstimate, a developer of IC planning and IP reuse management tools.
- August 15, 2007: acquired Clearshape, a developer of Design for Manufacturability (DFM) technology.
- July 12, 2007: acquired Invarium, a photolithographyPhotolithographyPhotolithography is a process used in microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film or the bulk of a substrate. It uses light to transfer a geometric pattern from a photomask to a light-sensitive chemical "photoresist", or simply "resist," on the substrate...
specialist. - April 7, 2005: acquired Verisity, Ltd., a provider of verification process automation solutions ($315 million, all cash).
- April 6, 2004: acquired Neolinear Technology, a privately held company specializing in rapid analog design technology
- September 2003: acquired Verplex Systems, a provider of Formal Verification products, Conformal Solutions and Blacktie Property Checker.
- May 1997: acquired Cooper & Chyan Technology, a provider of PCB and IC automatic place and router software solutions.
Notable persons
- Joseph CostelloJoseph CostelloJoseph Costello is a prominent person in electronic design automation industry.He was president and COO of SDA Systems from 1987–1988 and CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which became the largest EDA company under his tenure, from 1988–1997....
, CEO, 1988–1997. - Alberto Sangiovanni-VincentelliAlberto Sangiovanni-VincentelliAlberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli is an academic researcher, teacher, entrepreneur, technical advisor and business man. He is a co-founder of the two largest EDA companies: Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, Inc....
, co-founder. - Jiri Soukup, co-founder.
- Jim Solomon, co-founder.
- Ken KundertKen KundertKenneth S. Kundert is an engineer that is notable for his work in the area of Electronic Design Automation . He studied electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley under professors Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli and Robert Meyer and received his doctorate in 1989. During this...
, fellow. Creator of the SpectreSpectre Circuit SimulatorSpectre is a SPICE-class circuit simulator. It provides the basic SPICE analyses and component models. It also supports the Verilog-A modeling language...
circuit simulation family of products (including SpectreRFSpectreRFSpectreRF is an option to the Spectre Circuit Simulator from Cadence Design Systems. It adds a series of analyses that are particularly useful for RF circuits to the basic capabilities of Spectre. SpectreRF was first released in 1996 and was notable for three reasons...
) and the Verilog-AVerilog-AVerilog-A is an industry standard modeling language for analog circuits. It is the continuous-time subset of Verilog-AMS.Verilog-A was created out of a need to standardize the Spectre behavioral language in face of competition from VHDL , which was absorbing analog capability from other languages...
analog hardware description language.
External links
- Official site
- Connections Program
- [news:comp.cad.cadence comp.cad.cadence] (newsgroup)
- Cadence Community (Usergroup)
- ICU-PCB-Forum (International-Cadence-Usergroup --> Cadence's original forum prior to and concurrent with cdnusers.org)