Skip to content

About

EDA Perspective

My engineering career began at Intel designing DRAMs at a time when Design Rule Checking (DRC) and Layout Versus Schematic checking (LVS) where done manually by New College Graduates (NCGs). It quickly dawned on me that Computer Aided Design (CAD) was desperately needed. Intel had a strong culture of internally developed CAD tools however that team never seemed to be able to automate everything that I wanted, so I just started writing my own CAD tools to make my life easier as an engineer.

After 8 years in IC design I decided to do something about the dearth of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and joined a start-up called Silicon Compilers Inc in San Jose. The vision at SCI was quite powerful: Design at a high level of abstraction, push a button and the chip is automatically created both logically and physically. Mentor Graphics saw the promise of SCI and acquired the company.

My perspective on EDA comes from experience as a full-custom IC circuit designer, Application Engineer, Technical Marketing Engineer, Product Marketing Manager, EDA consultant and EDA blogger.

Blogging at SemiWiki.com

This new site was launched in January 2011 and covers the EDA plus IP industries with: Forums, Wiki Pages and Blogs. We have several veteran bloggers: Daniel Nenni, Paul McLellan, Eric Esteve, Ed MckernanDaniel Payne

Bio

I was born and raised in Minnesota, graduating from the University of Minnesota with a BSEE. My first job out of college was with Intel designing DRAM chips and I continued doing transistor-level circuit design for the next 8 years.

My transition into EDA began in 1986 with the best software company I’ve ever worked at, Silicon Compilers. Phil Kaufman was the president and many of us former Intel people were attracted to Phil’s engineering style of running a business. Intel was the best hardware company I worked at because they had a sense of urgency and they tracked objectives.

I started freelance marketing in 2004 serving small to large clients in the EDA industry. My fitness routine is road cycling, four rides per week, so come and follow me on Strava, or Zwift as Daniel Payne (VV).

I’ve been married since 1982 to my saintly wife, Janet. We are raising six children and teaching them to love God and serve others.

Daniel Payne