ABSTRACT
No invention in the modern age has been as pervasive as the semiconductor and nothing has been more important to its technological advancement than has electronic design automation (EDA). EDA was born in the 1960s both for and because of the electronic computer. It was the advent of the computer that allowed for the development of specialized programs that perform the complex management, design, and analysis operations associated with semiconductors and electronic systems. At the same time, it was the design, management, and manufacture of the thousands (now tens of millions) of devices that make up a single electronic assembly that made EDA an absolute requirement to fuel the semiconductor progression. Today, EDA programs are used on electronic packages for all business markets from computers to games, telephones to aerospace guidance systems, toasters to automobiles. Across these markets, EDA supports many different package types such as integrated circuit (IC) chips, multi-chip modules (MCM), printed circuit boards (PCB), and entire electronic assemblies of several different packages.
