What are the EDA technical software?

What are the commonly used technical software for EDA?

EDA technology is a computer software system developed on the basis of electronic CAD technology. It refers to the automatic design of electronic products using computers as working platforms and integrating the latest achievements in applied electronic technology, computer technology, information processing and intelligent technology.

Using EDA tools, electronic designers can design electronic systems starting from concepts, algorithms, protocols, etc. A large amount of work can be completed by computers, and the entire process of electronic products from circuit design, performance analysis to IC layout or PCB layout design can be automatically processed on the computer.

Nowadays, the concept or scope of EDA is widely used. EDA is applied in various fields, including machinery, electronics, communications, aerospace, chemical industry, mining, biology, medicine, military, etc. At present, EDA technology has been widely used in major companies, enterprises, institutions and scientific research and teaching departments. For example, in the aircraft manufacturing process, EDA technology may be involved from design, performance testing and characteristic analysis to flight simulation. The EDA technology referred to in this article is mainly aimed at electronic circuit design, PCB design and IC design. EDA design can be divided into system level, circuit level and physical implementation level.

Common EDA Software

EDA tools emerge in endlessly. The EDA software that has entered my country and has a wide influence include: EWB, PSPICE, OrCAD, PCAD, Protel, ViewLogic, Mentor, Graphics, Synopsys, LSIlogic, Cadence, MicroSim, etc. These tools have strong functions and can generally be used in several aspects. For example, many software can perform circuit design and simulation, and can also perform automatic PCB layout and routing, and can output a variety of netlist files and third-party software interfaces. The following is a brief introduction to circuit design and simulation tools, PCB design software, IC design software, PLD design tools and other EDA software according to their main functions or main application scenarios.

1. Electronic circuit design and simulation tools

Electronic circuit design and simulation tools include SPICE/PSPICE, EWB, Matlab, SystemView, MMICAD, etc. The following is a brief introduction to the first three software.

(1) SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis)

It is a circuit analysis simulation software launched by the University of California, USA. It was the most widely used circuit design software in the world in the 1980s and was set as the US national standard in 1998. In 1984, MicroSim Company of the United States launched the microcomputer version of PSPICE (Personal-SPICE) based on SPICE. PSPICE6.2 is now widely used. It can be said that among similar products, it is the most powerful analog and digital circuit mixed simulation EDA software and is widely used in China. The latest version of PSPICE9.1 has been launched. It can perform various circuit simulations, excitation establishment, temperature and noise analysis, analog control, waveform output, data output, and display analog and digital simulation results in the same window at the same time. No matter which device or circuit is simulated, accurate simulation results can be obtained, and components and component libraries can be established by themselves.

(2) EWB (Electronic Workbench) software

It is a circuit simulation software launched by InterActive ImageTechnologies Ltd in the early 1990s. EWB5.2 is currently widely used. Compared with other EDA software, it is a relatively small software (only 16M). However, its mixed simulation function for analog and digital circuits is very powerful, and it can simulate the results of real circuits almost 100%. It also provides multimeters, oscilloscopes, signal generators, sweepers, logic analyzers, digital signal generators, logic converters, voltmeters, ammeters and other instruments on the desktop. Its interface is intuitive, easy to learn and use. Many of its functions imitate the design of SPICE, but its analysis functions are slightly less than PSPICE.

(3) Text MATLAB product family

One of their major features is that they have numerous toolboxes and simulation blocks for specific applications, including a complete set of functions for analyzing and designing special applications such as image signal processing, control system design, neural networks, etc. It has functions such as data acquisition, report generation, and MATLAB language programming to generate independent C/C++ code. The MATLAB product family has the following functions: data analysis; numerical and symbolic calculations; engineering and scientific drawing; control system design; digital image signal processing; financial engineering; modeling, simulation, prototype development; application development; graphical user interface design, etc. The MATLAB product family is widely used in many fields such as signal and image processing, control system design, and communication system simulation. The open structure makes it easy for the MATLAB product family to be expanded according to specific needs, thereby continuously deepening the understanding of the problem and improving its own competitiveness.

2. PCB Design Software

There are many kinds of PCB (Printed—Circuit Board) design software, such as Protel; OrCAD; Viewlogic; PowerPCB; Cadence PSD; MentorGraphices' Expedition PCB; Zuken CadStart; Winboard/Windraft/Ivex-SPICE; PCB Studio; TANGO, etc. At present, Protel is the most widely used in my country, and the following is only an introduction to this software.

Protel is a CAD tool launched by PROTEL in the late 1980s. It is the preferred software for PCB designers. It was used earlier in China and has the highest popularity. Some colleges and universities have specially opened Protel courses for circuit majors, and almost all circuit companies use it. In the early days, Protel was mainly used as a printed board automatic wiring tool. Now Protel99SE is widely used. It is a complete and comprehensive circuit design system, including electrical schematic drawing, analog circuit and digital circuit mixed signal simulation, multi-layer printed circuit board design (including automatic layout and wiring of printed circuit boards), programmable logic device design, chart generation, circuit table generation, support for macro operations, etc., and has Client/Server (client/server architecture, and is also compatible with some other design software file formats, such as ORCAD, PSPICE, EXCEL, etc. Using the automatic wiring of multi-layer printed circuit boards, a 100% routing rate of high-density PCBs can be achieved. Protel software is powerful, user-friendly, and easy to use, but its most representative features are circuit design and PCB design.

3. IC design software

There are many IC design tools, among which Cadence, Mentor Graphics and Synopsys are ranked by market share. These three are well-known software suppliers in the field of ASIC design. The software of other companies has relatively few users. China Huada also provides ASIC design software (Panda 2000); in addition, Avanti, which has become famous recently, was founded by several Chinese engineers who used to work at Cadence. Their design tools can fully compete with Cadence's tools and are very suitable for deep submicron IC design. The following is an introduction to IC design software by purpose.

(1) Design input tools

This is a basic function that any EDA software must have. Composer from Cadence, ViewLogic's ViewDraw, hardware description languages ​​VHDL and Verilog HDL are the main design languages, and many design input tools support HDL. In addition, Active-HDL and other design input methods, including principle and state machine input methods, and most tools for designing FPGA/CPLD can be used as input methods for IC design, such as development tools provided by companies such as Xilinx and Altera, Modelsim FPGA, etc.

(2) Design simulation work

One of the biggest benefits of using EDA tools is that we can verify whether the design is correct. Almost every company's EDA products have simulation tools. Verilog-XL and NC-verilog are used for Verilog simulation, Leapfrog is used for VHDL simulation, and Analog Artist is used for analog circuit simulation. Viewlogic's simulators include: viewsim gate-level circuit simulator, speedwave VHDL simulator, and VCS-verilog simulator. Mentor Graphics has a VHDL and Verilog dual simulator: Model Sim produced by its subsidiary Model Tech. Cadence and Synopsys use VSS (VHDL simulator). The current trend is that major EDA companies are gradually using HDL simulators as circuit verification tools.

(3) Comprehensive tools

Synthesis tools can turn HDL into gate-level netlists. In this regard, Synopsys tools have a great advantage. Its Design Compile is the industrial standard for synthesis. It also has another product called Behavior Compiler, which can provide more advanced synthesis. In addition, a software called Ambit has recently been released in the United States, which is said to be more effective than Synopsys's software. It can synthesize circuits with 500,000 gates and is faster. At the beginning of this year, Ambit was acquired by Cadence, and Cadence abandoned its original synthesis software Synergy. As the scale of FPGA design becomes larger and larger, various EDA companies have developed synthesis software for FPGA design. The more famous ones are: Synopsys' FPGA Express, Cadence's Synplity, and Mentor's Leonardo. The FPGA synthesis software of these three companies accounts for the vast majority of the market.

(4) Layout and wiring

Among the layout and routing tools for IC design, Cadence software is relatively strong. It has many products that can realize interactive routing for standard cells and gate arrays. The most famous one is Cadence spectra, which was originally used for PCB routing, and later Cadence used it for IC routing. Its main tools are: Cell3, Silicon Ensemble—standard cell router; Gate Ensemble—gate array router; Design Planner—layout tool. Other EDA software development companies also provide their own layout and routing tools.

(5) Physical verification tools

Physical verification tools include layout design tools, layout verification tools, layout extraction tools, etc. Cadence is also very strong in this area, and its physical tools such as Dracula, Virtuso, and Vampire have many users.

(6) Analog circuit simulator

The simulators mentioned above are mainly for digital circuits. For simulation tools of analog circuits, SPICE is widely used. It is the only choice. It is just that different companies choose SPICE, such as PSPICE of MiceoSim, HSPICE of Meta Soft, etc. HSPICE has been acquired by Avanti. Among the many SPICEs, HSPICE is the best and most accurate. As an IC design, it has the most models and the highest simulation accuracy.

4. PLD Design Tools

PLD (Programmable Logic Device) is a digital integrated circuit with logic functions that users can construct according to their needs. There are two main types at present: CPLD (Complex PLD) and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Their basic design method is to use EDA software to generate corresponding target files using schematics, state machines, Boolean expressions, hardware description languages, etc., and finally use a programmer or download cable to implement it by the target device. There are many manufacturers that produce PLD, but the most representative PLD manufacturers are ALTERA, Xilinx and Lattice.

PLD development tools are generally provided by device manufacturers, but as the size of devices continues to increase, the complexity of the software also increases. Currently, specialized software companies are working with device manufacturers to launch powerful design software.

The following introduces the main device manufacturers and development tools.

(1) ALTERA has developed rapidly since the 1990s. Its main products include: MAX3000/7000, FELX6K/10K, APEX20K, ACEX1K, Stratix, etc. Its development tool - MAX+PLUS II is a relatively successful PLD development platform, and the latest is the Quartus II development software. Altera provides a variety of design input methods and binds third-party VHDL synthesis tools, such as: synthesis software FPGA Express, Leonard Spectrum, simulation software ModelSim.

(2) The inventor of ILINX FPGA. The company has a wide range of products, including XC9500/4000, Coolrunner (XPLA3), Spartan, Vertex and other series. Its largest Vertex-II Pro device has reached 8 million gates. The development software is Foundation and ISE. Generally speaking, more people use Xilinx in Europe, more people use ALTERA in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, and the two are evenly matched in the United States. More than 60% of the world's PLD/FPGA products are provided by Altera and Xilinx. It can be said that Altera and Xilinx jointly determine the development direction of PLD technology.

(3) Lattice-Vantis Lattice is the inventor of ISP (In-System Programmability) technology. ISP technology has greatly promoted the development of PLD products. Compared with Altera and Xilinx, its development tools are slightly inferior to Altera and Xilinx. Small and medium-sized PLDs are more distinctive, and the competitiveness of large-scale PLDs is not strong enough (Lattice does not have large-scale FPGAs based on lookup table technology). In 1999, it launched programmable analog devices and acquired Vantis (formerly a subsidiary of AMD) in 1999, becoming the third largest supplier of programmable logic devices. In December 2001, it acquired the FPGA department of Agere (formerly Lucent Microelectronics Division). The main products are ispLSI2000/5000/8000 and MACH4/5.

(4) ACTEL is the leader in anti-fuse (one-time programming) PLD. Since anti-fuse PLD is radiation-resistant, high and low temperature resistant, low power consumption and fast, it has great advantages in military and aerospace grade. ALTERA and XILINX generally do not get involved in the military and aerospace grade markets.

(5) QuickLogic is a professional PLD/FPGA company that mainly uses one-time anti-fuse technology and has small sales volume in China.

(6) Lucent's main feature is that it has a number of dedicated IP cores for the communications field, but PLD/FPGA is not Lucent's main business and few people use it in China.

(7) ATMEL has done a good job in small and medium-sized PLDs. ATMEL has also made some chips compatible with Altera and Xilinx, but there is still some gap in quality compared with the original manufacturers. It is rarely used in high-reliability products and is mostly used in low-end products.

(8) Clear Logic produces chips that are compatible with some well-known PLD/FPGA companies. This type of chip can solidify the user's design once and for all, is not programmable, and has a lower cost when mass-produced.

(9) WSI produces PSD (Programmable peripheral chip for single-chip microcomputer) products. This is a special PLD, such as the latest PSD8xx and PSD9xx, which integrate PLD, EPROM, Flash, and support ISP (in-circuit programming). It has a high degree of integration and is mainly used to work with single-chip microcomputers.

PLD (Programmable Logic Device) is a new type of circuit that can completely replace the 74 series, GAL, and PLA. As long as you have a basic knowledge of digital circuits and can use computers, you can develop PLD. PLD's online programming capabilities and powerful development software allow engineers to complete work that used to take weeks in a few days or even minutes, and can integrate complex designs of millions of gates into a single chip. PLD technology has become a must-have technology for electronic engineers in developed countries.

5. Other EDA software

(1) VHDL Language VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is a standard design language of IEEE. It originated from the Very High Speed ​​Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) program proposed by the US Department of Defense and is a major input tool for ASIC and PLD design.

(2) Veriolg HDL is a hardware description language launched by Verilog, which is on par with VHDL in ASIC design.

(3) Other EDA software, such as tools specifically used in the fields of microwave circuit design, power carrier tools, PCB manufacturing and process flow control, will not be introduced here.