( ESNUG 559 Item 3 ) -------------------------------------------- [04/22/16]
Subject: Amit on the SPICE wars, fast vs. pure, and SPICE user survey data
DAC'15 Troublemakers Panel in San Francisco, CA
Cooley: Amit.
Amit: John.
Cooley: Who's winning the SPICE wars?
Amit: So we... SPICE is continuing to be a pretty competitive
space. We just did a survey in ESNUG 551 #2 and we look at the
SPICE world as having a few different markets.
There's the analog RF custom digital, there's the memory space,
and then there's the standard cell base.
So if you look at analog RF custom digital, Cadence is leading
by a wide margin, Synopsys is number two, Mentor and now
Keysight (previously Agilent) are number three. Mentor got
into the game by buying Berkeley Design Automation about 15
months ago.
If you look at memory, Synopsys is number one but their lead is
shrinking. Cadence is doing a great job in the memory SPICE
space, primarily as a result of their acquisition of Altos.
They're driving a lot more SPICE in the characterization area.
And then...
Anirudh: I have to say, I'm so happy we agree with each other
as compared to last year. [audience laughs]
Amit: ... And then Mentor's in the memory SPICE game, too, with
their acquisition of BDA.
And finally in standard cell space, again Synopsys is number
one, but their lead is shrinking -- and Cadence is number two;
the Altos acquisition again.
So both CDNS and MENT are aggressive in the SPICE simulation
space.
Cooley: So, so Anirudh, why is Cadence so weak in SPICE?
Anirudh: That was not an excellent question. [audience laughs]
I think Cadence...
Hogan: How can you draw a conclusion like that? [laughs]
Anirudh: I didn't come to that conclusion! I think Cadence...
I mean there are two big areas in SPICE, what I call Pure
SPICE and Fast SPICE. So in Pure SPICE with Spectre, CDNS
is doing, I would say pretty well. And you know continue
to do well.
In Fast SPICE, I think of our competition SNPS HSPICE has
had a good position but we have new Fast SPICE tools (like
Spectre XPS) and new characterization tools. So I think
that's an area that will be the more competitive space.
Cooley: Amit. Wait a minute answer the question.
Hogan: How is your old SPICE doing against your new SPICE?
Anirudh: Is that a question about perfumes? [audience laughs]
I don't know what perfume I use... it's not old SPICE.
Cooley: So anyway Amit, is Anirudh speaking the truth here?
Amit: Yeah, I mean, like I said...
Cooley: He (Cadence) is ahead in certain categories?
Amit: Yeah, in the analog RF space for sure, CDNS has the Virtuoso
analog design environment so majority of users we see doing
analog design, RF design, use Spectre...
Cooley: Well he's characterizing his fast SPICE verses, you
know, old style SPICE.
Amit: So it depends how you define fast SPICE, right? If you're
talking fast SPICE for, you know, the big analog type designs,
for sure Cadence. If you're looking at fast SPICE type designs
for memory, I think Anirudh's previous company, Magma (which is
now SNPS) with FineSim is still #1 there.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Related Articles
Sanjiv on High Level Synthesis (HLS), C-based design, and Calypto
Anirudh on CDNS Innovus, SNPS ICC2, Atoptech, MENT Olympus PnR
Amit on the SPICE wars, fast vs. pure, and SPICE user survey data
Joe Sawicki on Mentor's relationship with Carl Icahn this year
Why CDNS and MENT didn't bother to bid on the Atrenta acquisition
Join
Index
Next->Item
|
|
