WILSONVILLE, OR -- Mentor Graphics' chief executive sounded positively bullish on the near-term prospects for electronics design automation software on a conference call Thursday night.

Wally Rhines said an "acceleration in the use of design automation and virtual prototyping in systems companies like automotive and aerospace and other industries that haven't been traditional EDA users" is spurring growth in adoption of simulation and other types of design automation and benefiting Mentor, Ansys and other software developers.

Mentor lists as customers a number of automotive OEMs, but most use only a small portion of the tool set. Rhines envisions those customers expanding from basic design to enterprise solutions that range from design conceptualization through service and support. '[W]e only have a couple of customers that cover that entire breadth. Most of them are yet to grow. And there are still a lot more OEMs, particularly in China, yet to come on.

"These markets promise faster growth from the traditional chip design tool markets that have fueled EDA growth in the past," Rhines added.