Essential Electronic Design Automation (EDA)

How to Buy EDA Tools—Five Key Issues

Hugo:

First, you have to know the IC architecture that will be used—custom, standard cell, FPGA, etc. That narrows down the tool choices. Then there are five key issues to consider when buying tools. They are cost/performance, training/support, make or buy, compatibility, and transition. Let's look at them one at a time.

Cost/Performance

Hugo:

How will the tool perform compared to similar tools? Tool demonstrations at the vendor's site, at our site, or at a conference are worthwhile. They can answer a lot of questions and raise some more. Of course, vendor demonstrations always show off the tool well (no surprise). They usually are done using small examples or to show just a few features. Demonstrations also ...