Essential Electronic Design Automation (EDA)

Preface

Purpose of This Book

The tremendous increase in the use of tiny electronic devices is common knowledge. We find them everywhere today, in cars, household appliances, telephones, music, and business equipment. The typical car or house uses dozens of them.

These devices are called microchips or integrated circuits (ICs). Today a single IC can do more than an entire roomful of equipment just a decade ago. Integrated circuits are small enough to hold in your hand, yet contain millions of tiny electronic components.

Engineers create detailed design plans to make ICs, similar to an architect's building plans. Architects use computer tools to design a building and predict the structure's response to storms or earthquakes. Similarly, IC designers ...