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ASIC Design made Easy and Cheap |
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Entry Page How to Start Books Schematic Entry Analog Simulation Digital Design IC Layout IC Test File Formats Contact |
Schematic EntryWhen the idea is on paper and certain concept studies are done, a schematic is needed for the project. Professional programs for this are on the market since the 80's. For the same time we have discussions, to find one schematic editor for all applications. This never really worked, because we always have different "best in class" backends from different companies for analog, digital, electromechanical, printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, .... design. Even in the future, there will never be one company having the best programs for all those applications. In 1998 Ales Hvezda started the open source project "gEDA". It contains a very good schematic editor and more than 20 netlisters for different PCB programs, Spice, Verilog, VHDL-AMS, .... . If you are not happy with an existing netlister, you can easily change an existing one (remember all the sources are available) or write your own netlister within a week. gEDA has all the fundamentals to become the single schematic entry tool for all applications. For more information look at the project home page: www.geda.seul.org When you start your next design, I recommend to try first with gEDA. How to obtain and install the softwareA easy way to install a lot of EDA applications on your Linux computer is Stuart Brorson gEDA distribution. It contains
When you use Unix, Mac or Windows, please look at the readme files for installation instructions. HOWTO setup a professional user environmentEverything the user needs, but can't be done by the automatic installation procedure is explained in this HOWTO:
Symbol library for ASIC designThe library includes components for CMOS and bipolar ASIC design. In the meantime, this library is included in the standard distribution. Here you can find updates between the official releases.
All this symbols are ready to simulate with Spice. For netlisting please use spice-sdb from Stuart Brorson. More information about the used attributes are in the README file HOWTO make hierarchical designsThis is still a draft. Look at it as a collection of hints. I will complete it when I have more time.
HOWTO write your own netlisterThis is still a draft. Look at it as a collection of hints. I will complete it when I have more time.
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