Since the invention of the
transistor nearly six decades ago, new technology nodes have been added
approximately every two years. This march of progress has yielded smaller
transistors that run about 40% faster with each geometry scaling, fulfilling the
promise and industry-defining mantra of "smaller, faster,
cheaper!" Now, in the realm of 65- and 45-nanometer design and
manufacturing, the industry is confronted by multiple complex and stubborn
challenges: silicon technology keeps shrinking, but doesn't advance in speed at
the same rate. The recent high-k dielectric announcements have yet to be proven
manufacturable, and copper interconnect is already
hitting the wall. We are driving to the edge of the silicon roadmap, but there
is no viable alternative to CMOS within our reach. Not coincidentally, several
companies are announcing their intention to stop internal R&D at the 45
nanometer node and use foundry-supplied processes at 32 nanometers and below.
The electronics industry ecosystem is at a fork in the road: those few who can
afford it will keep rushing to 45 nanometers and maybe beyond, to 32 and 25
nanometers; the rest will hold at 130 or perhaps 90 nanometers, trying to get
the most out of those processes that they can. In both cases it is EDA that will
come to the rescue. Advanced EDA provides a competitive advantage at 90
nanometers and above, and is a matter of plain survival at 65 nanometers and
below. In 2006 only 10% of IC design starts have been at 90 nanometers and below
(source: IBS), but they have generated more than 30% of silicon (source: VLSI
Research), and absorbed more than 50% of all the engineering effort (source:
SNUG '06). Without EDA, more EDA, or more advanced EDA, when design starts at 90
nanometers and below exceed 30% in 2 years (source: IBS), twice as many
engineers will be needed. EDA innovation is the gear that enables design for low
power, design for manufacturing and yield (which encompasses design for test),
and design for variability. EDA is not only the enabler for quality in
electronic design; it is truly "where electronics begins!"