WILSONVILLE, OR -- System-level design is driving downstream demand for printed circuit board CAD tools, Mentor Graphics' CEO says.

Mentor set all-time company bookings and revenue records for PCB CAD software in its quarter ended Jan. 31. Moreover, the EDA company's Integrated System Design unit, which includes printed circuit board products, saw first quarter bookings rise 40%, driven by program wins from Finmeccanica, Denso and General Electric.

On a Feb. 28 conference call, Wally Rhines said strong demand from the automotive and telecommunications sector for system-level tools has led to three distinct trends: high gate counts, particularly in system-on-a-chip, requires better emulation; increased attention to thermal analysis; and greater electronics complexity, which is forcing designers away from the traditional "build-and-debug" process to greater use of simulation tools.

"(P)eople who are doing large chips find that simulation is only adequate for the blocks within those chips, and that full-chip verification and especially software verification requires the addition of emulation," Rhines said.

Rhines compared the trend in the transportation industry to the transformation that the semiconductor industry underwent beginning in the 1960s.

Mentor derives about half its annual revenue from systems companies, and 15% of its revenue from companies in the transportation sector.

• Prev
• Next