( ESNUG 454 Item 15 ) ------------------------------------------- [04/28/06]
Subject: ( ESNUG 451 #1 ) Users overwhelmingly say "one Verilog standard"!
> Many of the 1800 Working Group members (mostly EDA companies) feel that
> only EDA companies actually use the IEEE reference manuals. They think
> most users (that's me and you) of EDA tools only look at product
> documentation, training guides, books, and not the IEEE LRMs. Therefore,
> a number of 1800 Working Group members (a slight majority) feel that
> taking the time to merge the two LRMs has no value to EDA tool users,
> and should not be done.
>
> - Stu Sutherland
> Sutherland HDL Portland, OR
From: Stuart Sutherland <stuart=user domain=sutherland-hdl spot gone>
Hi, John,
In ESNUG 451 #1, Cliff Cummings and I asked for user comments regarding
whether the IEEE 1364 Verilog reference manual and IEEE 1800 System Verilog
reference manual (which is extensions to the 1364 standard) should be
merged. We would like to thank the many ESNUG readers who took the time to
send in their thoughts. Here's the quick summary:
A total of 95 ESNUG readers responded. Of these, 80 were from companies that
do design/verification work, "real users", and 15 were from EDA companies,
"EDA users". (Of course, engineers at EDA companies are users of the IEEE
standards, too, but in a different way than "real users".)
"How often do you, as an EDA tool user, refer to the IEEE Standards?"
Real Users:
Frequently ############ 41%
Occasionally ############### 49%
Seldom to never ### 10%
EDA Users:
Frequently ###################### 73%
Occasionally ######## 27%
Seldom to never 0%
"Would merging the Verilog & System Verilog manuals make you work easier?"
Real Users:
Yes ########################### 90%
No ## 7%
N/A # 3%
EDA Users:
Yes ########################## 87%
No #### 13%
Nearly every reader backed up their survey answers with detailed reasons (no
surprise there...the responses came from engineers!). With 95 responses,
there's too many comments to summarize here. Suffice it to say that there
were very good reasons given both for and against merging the documents.
Clearly, though, the vast majority of both real users and EDA users saw
benefits to having the base Verilog language and all the extensions to the
language in one reference manual. It is worth mentioning that there was a
common thread in the reasons given from the of 49% users who said they seldom
or never use the IEEE standards -- it was the cost of IEEE reference manuals.
I passed that feedback on to the IEEE staff representative at the IEEE 1800
working group meeting.
These statistics made a difference! In a meeting prior to the survey, the
IEEE 1800 working group, which is in responsible for both standards, had
voted on merging the two manuals. The vote ended in a tie, and was tabled.
After listening to this report on real user opinions at this next meeting,
the IEEE 1800 working group voted unanimously to make merging the two
reference manuals a high-priority task.
Thanks, John, for sending posting the survey on ESNUG, and thanks again to
everyone who took the time to respond.
- Stu Sutherland
Sutherland HDL Portland, OR
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