Innovations In Engineering And Technology Driving Electronic Design Automation
Solomon Chijioke Okafor
Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Abstract
Computer Aided Design (CAD) also known as Ele ctronic Design Automation (EDA) is used for the design of microelectronic circuits and employs layers of abstraction. This innovation has been in place since the introduction and invention of Integrated Circuits (IC). It has had an extraordinary effect on everyday human life with the development of conveniences in the software and Hardware system design in cell Phones, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), navigation systems, music players, and personal data assistants (PDAs). CAD techniques have reduced the level of complexity within a given layer of abstraction that is limited due to limitations of human senses. Certain Design rules such as Maximum loading of a signal, minimum space or maximum mask overlap during fabrication to avoid shorts or achieve connection and set up / hold time for some pre-designed blocks. Event Driven Simulation (EDS) is often as a modeling system containing multiple agents that interact with discrete events. In fact, almost everything and every daily task have been influenced by, and in some cases are direct results of EDA/CAD. As engineers, the role of EDA/CAD cannot be overemphasized as there has been significant and exponential growth of circuit capacity with respect to critical challenges for EDA/CAD. The most noteworthy inventions have been the microprocessor and the personal computer (PC), their progression in terms of performance and features, and the subsequent development of smaller, portable implementations such as the notebook computer. In this article, the role of EDA/CAD are pointed out in Engineering and Technology the role played in Designing and Developing Software Components (SWC), Hardware Components (HWC) and Interfacing Components (IFC) for easy Electronic Design Automation Adventures. As a result, the computer has become an essential tool and part of everyday life – to the extent that current automobiles, including safety features in particular, are controlled by the multiple microprocessors and ICs