( ESNUG 509 Item 4 ) -------------------------------------------- [09/13/12]
Subject: While 52 percent of EDA RIVALS see Synopsys-SpringSoft as GOOD
AART'S PATENT LAWYERS (part III): In general, the rival EDA vendors thought
this was a smart move by Aart because it helps his SNPS monopoly grow, plus
it increases EDA prices, plus it helps create a competitor to CDNS Virtuoso.
Also picking up Verdi to replace DVE in VCS is a good idea, too.
For 23 rival EDA vendors:
"This SpringSoft-Synopsys merger is (choose one) GOOD news,
BAD news, NEUTRAL news for my company because (say why):"
GOOD: ########################## 52%
BAD: ################ 34%
NEUTRAL: ###### 13%
And in a similar reaction by the USERS, roughly 13% of the rival EDA vendors
expressed concern over Aart getting SpringSoft's 34 patents for fear of the
pending lawsuits it would entail.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
BAD News. I checked SpringSoft patent count. They have 34 patents
assigned to them. I've heard that EDA software developers have
thought twice before doing a project because of SpringSoft's patents.
Synopsys now has a lock on even more EDA software and is not shy
about using lawsuits.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Great. SNPS has the patents from SpringSoft and Ciranova. We're
about to get sued by Aart. BAD.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Bad News. SNPS + newly acquired patents == lawsuits
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Bad news. Too few jobs, too many candidates (x2).
- Rich Goldstein, EDA headhunter
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good News. Cadence had the monopoly for too long. Competition is
good in this domain.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Might be a good thing for customers: if they manage to somehow merge
Laker and Ciranova tools, they may have a credible Virtuoso competitor
(and not a me-too product) that'll let customers move from Virtuoso.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
GOOD news is Laker is a strong layout editor, helps create a viable
alternative to Cadence analog.
- Steve Meier, consultant
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
NEUTRAL, because Cadence is their enemy.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Neutral - short term it is good as there will be a lot of work for
Synopsys to merge all of its analog tools. They now have quite a
bit of overlap. Longer term, it could be good for Synopsys.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
The merging of Springsoft and Ciranova with Synopsys is a bad thing
for the EDA landscape overall. The bigger start-ups are what keeps
the Big Three in check. It's especially bad because they go in the
hands of the 800 lb SNPS Gorilla.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
GOOD news. A big upgrade to VCS as Verdi is clearly superior to DVE.
Potential BAD news is that Verdi may no longer interoperate as well
with Mentor/Cadence verification.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
BAD. We are a SpringSoft Harmony partner and use Verdi as a debug
front-end. According to the SpringSoft web site there are over
50 partners with flows using their software. We hope that Synopsys
will continue this effort and add another partner program to the
11 others they have on their web site.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good news for SNPS. Should have done this long time ago. Verdi is
much better than DVE.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good for Aart. I think Novas Verdi is the best in the market.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good news. They should have done this long time ago. Verdi is much
better than DVE.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Very GOOD news indeed -
They have great simulators that can do fast RTL sims; but the real
bottleneck has been debug. Now SNPS customers have the best choice
of one of the fastest RTL simulators (VCS) plus the power of BEST
debug technology (in post-processing mode at least).
As far other EDA vendors are concerned - I believe they need to focus
on what the end users need to be productive - i.e. improved debug
technology. This will become the key differentiator in near future,
now that SystemVerlog/UVM is in all the major 5 EDA simulators.
I guess this provides a great opportunity for some of the less known
names in the UVM domain such as Axiom to make a strong impact - given
their advanced debug that was once challenging Novas/Debussy/Verdi
(till Axiom decided to stick to their own simulator.) Or next
generation debug tools such as Vennsa OnPoint to make further inroads
into customers.
- Srinivasan Venkataramanan of CVC, Ltd.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good news.
This is a great news for Axiom. Our Axiom Designer and SpringSoft
Verdi are the two best RTL debuggers in the industry. Now with
SpringSoft acquired by Synopsys, it remains to be seen if Verdi will
continue to support Cadence and Mentor. This acquisition creates
a great opportunity for Axiom.
We'll be happy to swap Verdi licenses with Axiom Designer licenses.
- Ghulam Nurie of Axiom DA
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
GOOD news, non-Synopsys user will not like it and use other (hopefully
our) debug tools
- Shuying Qi of Axiom-DA
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
BAD news because less competition for Synopsys allows them greater
pricing and account control... which is bad news for the customer and
the remaining EDA vendors.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good in that EDA needs consolidation and this is a step toward that
direction.
Bad in that a great independent tool vendor is now part of a big
bundled SNPS solution and will likely suffer in continued R&D
support and productquality.
Good in that this is yet another relatively large acquisition and will
hopefully invigorate EDA startups.
Overall, it's good to the industry, potentially great to SNPS, not so
good to SNPS's competitors, and level to customers.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
It's a BAD news because of one less independent EDA company, which may
make the EDA world less diverse.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Good news. Because it proves that real EDA development and innovation
doesn't happen at the Big Three. It proves the value and keeps the
EDA ecosystem alive.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Bad news - one more good company swallowed up by the monster.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
GOOD: tools should be integrated in the SNPS Discovery framework
complementing the already existing flows and methodologies.
Users will benefit with more efficient tools in verification areas.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Neutral, because we do not compete against any of these tools.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
The 'goodness' of the news depends entirely on what Synopsys does with
SpringSoft (people and products both). That will take time to play
out, say 6-18 months. The responses will run on orthogonal axes:
1. People - KeepAll, KeepTheBest and FlushTheRest (with or
without 'probationary' evaluations, with or without
merging design teams), DumpAll.
2. Products - KeepAll (with minor rebranding), KeepBest and
FlushRest, DumpAll
3. Support Organization (as in 1.)
4. Management (as in 1.)
5. Fiscal Resources (pension plan to plunder ala Icahn?)
Debt consolidation/refinancing/lines of credit.
I've been the 'interested observer'/'fearful participant' side of
takeovers with mixed results. Usually it results in extinguishing
of the products/organization taken over.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
GOOD. For front-end, their tool is more integrated and friendly.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Bad news.
Lack of diversity in EDA is as dangerous for the victorious as it is
for the vanquished. Just not as immediate.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
BAD news. One less independent EDA vendor usually leads to less
diversity and innovation in the EDA world.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Related articles:
78 percent of frontend USERS see Synopsys-SpringSoft as BAD
But the backend USERS are evenly split on Synopsys-SpringSoft
And 86 percent USERS overal are NEUTRAL on Synopsys-Ciranova
And 46 percent of EDA RIVALS see Synopsys-Ciranova as BAD
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