How do you choose custom design tools?

At most companies, the engineering department selects tools based on its own criteria.
But more and more companies are beginning to look for solutions that will meet overall
organizational objectives. To that end, they’re involving more stakeholders—such as
senior management, CAD managers, and engineers—in the selection process.

Companies are also measuring the true cost of design tools, using traditional metrics
such as ROI and total cost of ownership. And they’re evaluating technology based on
serious criteria such as:

• Ease of use and integration
• Reliability
• Customer support
• Training requirements
• Vendor reputation and history

Weigh Your Options

Given this new set of standards, how can you make the right choices? And how can you
speed your concepts to silicon while increasing efficiency and reducing costs?

Tanner EDA has the answer. For 18 years, Tanner EDA has helped analog and mixed-signal
IC designers streamline the design flow with powerful yet affordable Windows ®-based
solutions.

“If you are a start-up or have a limited budget or tight time-to-market goals, you
can’t afford to spend a great deal of time or money building your infrastructure,” says
Dr. Massimo Sivilotti, Tanner’s chief technology officer. “You need to be able to work in
the most efficient way.”

Along with their cost-effectiveness, Tanner EDA’s tools are flexible enough to handle
the most complex designs, and are easy to configure and use. Tanner EDA has extensive
in-house design expertise, providing firsthand knowledge of the design process.

“Our tools are designed with a great deal of input from designers who know what
customers need from the user interface,” says Daniel Hamon, Tanner EDA general manager.
“We believe that tools are meant to help the design process. They are not meant to be an
obstacle in getting a product to silicon.”

Integrate Your Design Flow

Whether your company is a startup or larger outfit, Tanner EDA tools provide a
complete, integrated design flow for analog and mixed-signal IC design:

• S-Edit™ enables schematic capture for the most complex full-custom IC design,
  and integrates tightly with Tanner EDA T-Spice™ simulation, L-Edit™ layout, and
  HiPer™ verification tools.
• T-Spice™ lets engineers simulate key blocks during the design process.
• L-Edit™ enables mixed-signal designers to automate the design of similar circuits
  for different ICs.
• HiPer Verify™ runs Calibre® and Dracula® DRC files hierarchically and
  natively to identify up to 95 percent of mixed-signal design rule violations early.

Join Successful Customers

Tanner EDA has an 18-year track record of delivering tools that help customers run
commercially successful projects—especially in the imaging, consumer electronics, and
power management fields. Here are three success stories.

Get Designs Right the First Time

Tangent Technologies creates detector-based solutions for science and industry. When
Tangent needed an easy-to-use software platform that could address a wide range of
engineering needs, it turned to Tanner HiPer Silicon™. Mark Wadsworth, Tangent’s
President, credits Tanner software for the successful implementation of the imaging chip
used in the first Mars Rover expedition.

“It’s important to get the design right the first time,” says Wadsworth. “We are doing
highly customized work and we need to make sure we can do the best job from the very
beginning. I believe we would have never been able to do some of the things we’re doing
without Tanner.”

Stay Within Your Budget

AnalogicTech needed tools that could support proprietary design techniques as well as
specialized design rules used by foundry partners. But as a start-up company, budget was a
critical consideration. Tanner EDA met AnalogicTech’s needs with affordable tools that run
on standard PCs.

“Our processes have become more and more complex over time,” says Tim Yu,
Design/Development Manager and CAD Manager. “Tanner has supported us 100% by providing the
features we need to handle our designs.”

Proven Vendor, Reliable Results

Tanner EDA delivers solutions that are designed to streamline the design process and
speed your concepts to silicon—without monopolizing your software budget. Consider
what Tanner EDA can offer you.