Abstract :
Is the chasm closing between the capabilities (and the prices) of workstations and PCs? During the last decade workstations, RISC processors and Unix have been the mainstays for heavy duty EDA design. Now low end workstations are as inexpensive as PCs, and PCs are promising performance as fast as workstations. Some believe that Windows NT will close the gap between DOS/Windows and Unix, and some believe that Pentium is the processor that will erase the difference between CISC and RISC. Has CISC caught up to RISC? What about the roadmap for the future? What kind of advanced EDA capabilities can users expect from these new platform technologies? When? Due to the high cost of software porting, we have been accustomed to thinking of hardware platforms and operating systems in coupled pairs. Virtually all the software for PCs is still for DOS/Windows, and similarly applications for RISC workstations are dominated by Unix. Now we are experiencing a host of combinations that indicate a shift, for example: Windows NT on Alpha, PA-RISC, MIPS, Clipper; Solaris, Unixware on x86; Netware on SPARC, PA-RISC. How will new OS/hardware combinations influence EDA platform preferences? What affects do we expect on the dynamics of the EDA marketplace? Will EDA software prices be affected? The members of this panel will compare and contrast the platform changes that are occurring. They will explore what is available today and what is expected to be real in the near future. And they will forecast the impact expected on EDA end users.
