Cadence integrating own and Valid packs

Electronic News, March 16, 1992 by Daniel Holden

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cadence Design Systems Inc.'s product roadmap for the future contains few surprises, leaving intact many of the tools acquired through the purchase of Valid Logic Systems Inc.

"Significant new product capabilities are expected to be available in the third and fourth quarters of this year," Cadence said last week, "with a fully consolidated product line to be offered by mid-year 1993."

Cadence will continue to sell and support the products currently being used by its customers until they are ready to migrate to the new tools.

Ron Collett, an industry analyst at Dataquest, said he doesn't expect the implementation timeline to cause a problem for Cadence.

"Cadence is a "technology-rich' company," said Mr. Collett. "They should do very well for the next six to 18 months." After that time, he said, the company must have an upgraded toolset.

"Mid-1993 will be about the time the current technology runs out of gas," said Mr. Collett. "Their key challenge is going to be simultaneously upgrading their tools while they are doing the integration."

Cadence's roadmap is subdivided into five product categories.

* Frameworks. Cadence's design Framework II and ValidFrame frameworks will be fully integrated by the first half of 1993. The capabilities of the existing frameworks will be maintained until then, said Tony Zingale, Cadence's vice president of corporate marketing.

Cadence will use the PowerFrame design management technology from Digital Equipment Corp. as the base engine, he said.

The foundation for the frameworks will be the standards currently under development by the CAD Framework Initiative. A key addition to the framework will be the Communications Manager implemented by Valid, which Cadence has proposed to CFI as a standard for intertool communications.

* Mixed-Level Design. The company's top-down design approach will be built on a merged Cadence Composer and Valid Concept mixed-level entry system, available by the first half of 1993.

The new top-down environment will support mixed-level entry using either Verilog or VHDL with fully integrated Verilog-XL or VHDL-XL verification tools.

Valid's RapidSim logic simulator will be "de-emphasized," said Mr. Zingale, adding that the Verilog-XL and VHDL-XL tools provide greater commonality in model support and links to physical design.

GED, Valid's original schematic capture tool, was replaced by Valid's Concept tool prior to the merger, said Mr. Zingale.

* IC Design. The most significant enhancement to the IC offering will be the addition of Valid's Compose software for multi-layer block placement and routing, completed by the first half of 1993.

Losers in this area will be Valid's Construct IC layout editor which will be dropped in favor of Cadence's Virtuoso tool, while Cadence's Dracula and Diva tools will replace Valid's Confirm IC physical verification tools.

* Analog and Mixed-Signal Design. Both the Analog Artist from Cadence and the Analog Workbench from Valid will continue to be sold and fully supported, said Cadence sources. The Spectre high-speed circuit simulator will be integrated from the Analog Artist to Analog Workbench in the third quarter of this year.

* PCB/MCM Implementation. Valid's Allegro printed circuit board and multichip module design system will receive several enhancements from the Cadence tool-set, including the Prance high-speed routing engines, which will be integrated in phases during 1992 and early 1993. Cadence will also add Thermax thermal analysis software into the Allegro tool-set, replacing Allegro's existing ThermoStats package in the third quarter. By year's end, the company will integrate design-for-assembly and design-for-manufacturing technology obtained through an agreement with AT&T.