Who needs EDA innovation, bring on the statisticians?

Hey folks, as expected, my latest column on EDAC's statistics has prompted an industry watcher to once again defend the integrity of the EDA Consortiums Market Statistics Service.

I don't want to be down on the EDA Industry. I'm a big fan and want to see it succeed. But I want to see it succeed above board, not by voodoo statistical manipulation. I'd also like to thank Dave Maliniak at Electronic Design for get'n my back and a couple of dozen other folks whom have sent me "that-a-boy" responses to my columns critical of MSS. Anyways I'm glad the issue is getting attention and I hope EDAC does something to restore faith in MSS. EDAC's done a lot of good stuff. It needs to work on MSS, in my opinion.

To the industry watcher: I guess we'll agree to disagree (though, you didn't address my point about MSS cherry picking statistics). But I'd like to call out one assertion you made– You seem to suggest that because "software" is used to create an SoC that it should also be called EDA? (Your macro assertion if I understand your view correctly is that if it is involved in the creation of an SoC, it is EDA?) Did I read that right? Even if I didn't get it right, I think I've had an epiphany–I finally see the way the EDA industry can keep sustainable strong growth: It doesn't have to do it by innovating in design tools for electronics–it can simply hire more "independent" statisticians to search the world and selectively tack on new industries (only of course if they are upwardly mobile) as needed like embedded systems to the EDA numbers. KLA has an EDA offering–why not count all of KLA's revenue too as EDA? Then maybe it gradually tack on more equipment manufacturing firms. MSS can save Applied Materials revenue for a tough year (if capx isn't down, that is). I see it–The key to the EDA isn't more R&D and engineering, it is more statisticians.

But seriously, I'm not calling for the death of EDA, EDAC or even MSS—I'm pretty sure Aart de Geus as well as my colleagues in the ever shrinking EDA press corps aren't either. I'm calling for EDAC to give the world an honest assessment on the state of the industry. Maybe if the EDA industry soaked in its own stagnation for long enough, it will get inspired to lift itself up and finally do some of the things customers have been asking for forever: Maybe interoperability will really happen someday. Maybe analog tool automation will evolve beyond 15-year-old SPICE tools? That would be cool.