Re: gEDA-user: fritzing

[Eric Brombaugh <ebrombaugh1@xxxxxxx>]

Ben Jackson wrote:
> Frankly, having come to FPGAs from a long history of softare development,
> the FPGA guys are working with stone age tools right now.  The only reason
> FPGA and ASIC projects get done at all is that their scope is vastly
> simpler than a typical software project.

OOooh! I guess I deserved that, but I can't let it pass without some 
comment. :)

Them's hasty words sir. If your only perspective on modern IC design is 
from an FPGA perspective then you're not seeing the whole picture. I'll 
grant you that FPGA tools come up short in many ways, but ASIC tools are 
much more advanced (and much more expensive). The engineering challenges 
involved are much more complex - not just synthesis, place & route and 
timing, but also signal integrity, electromigration, mask development, etc.

I'll concur that current software projects have enormous scope and 
demand some pretty powerful tools. Don't underestimate the challenges of 
developing a System-on-Chip for high-volume commercial use though. It's 
orders of magnitude more complex than what happens in the FPGA world. 
When doing an FPGA design, I can as an individual manage a project that 
completely fills the largest FPGA available. Working on a large 
commercial IC development project requires the skills of dozens if not 
hundreds of experienced engineers.

As someone with experience on both sides, what improvements would you 
like to see?

Eric


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