The Crystal Ball
Peggy:
I'm not sure you should be believing everything you hear from those FPGA guys ("Focus Report: PLDs" January 2001, p. 58). Reprogrammabilty-programmability is a hot topic right now and one that needs some coverage. You could easily do a whole magazine on it. Berkeley is doing a lot of work on the subject, not all of which I agree with. You actually could write a good article asking the question, "Will the FPGA vendors be in business six years from now?"
Gary Smith
Chief EDA Analyst
Dataquest
Library of Choice
To the Editor:
Is there any additional information about the author's choice of Cadabra Classic-SOC over Prolific's Progenesis ("Automating Cost-Effective Library Creation" November 2000, p. 18)?
Andy Escobar
ISD Magazine Reader
The author replies:
Having worked with or around a variety of automation tools using methods like individual cell generators or seed libraries with scaling, I have come to appreciate Cadabra's ability to work with either a NAND or an arbitrary/proprietary scan latch write-enabled synchronous preset and clear flip flop without additional setup. It's helpful for library automation when we don't have to make additional considerations for new types of cells. Each library seems to have a number of new/deleted cells; not having to do anything different to handle special families of cells is helpful. So, overall, Cadabra was the best layout creation solution available when we were implementing our Library Factory. The quality of results and the level of automation provided by the Cadabra tool fits well in our development environment.
David Pietromonaco
Agilent Technologies
The Dream
To the Editor:
Just a note to express my appreciation for Gary Smith's article in the December 2000 issue of ISD Magazine ("The Dream-Communications/Core-Based Design" p. 20). I think it is visionary and cogent.
Peter C. Salmon
President & CTO
The Salmon Group, LLC
Time Check
To the Editor:
In the article "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" by David C. Robinson (January 2001, p. 68) there appears to be an error. Where it describes the criteria for adding a second, it reads, "... effectively keep mean high noon within 0.9 seconds of 12:00 TAI." To be correct and more specific, it should read, "... effectively keep mean solar high noon within 0.9 seconds of 12:00 UTC."
I enjoyed the article.
Eugene C. Loop
ISD Magazine Reader
The Real Millennium
To the Editor:
I was a bit disappointed to see that you chose to use "C.E." instead of "B.C." ("Ushering in the New Millennium" January 2001, p. 8) You may not be comfortable with it, but marking human history by the coming of Christ simply acknowledges the wide-ranging impact of that event. Our system of laws and justice are based on Christian principles. We owe our freedom and prosperity to the rule of law that is based on right versus wrong. Simply look around the world and compare the countries of Christian heritage with those of other heritage.
Bryan W. Dishner
Electronic Design Engineer
Mr. Dishner:
Electrical Engineering is enriched by a vast range of nationalities, cultures, and religions. "C.E." is a better choice for our diverse readership and industry. However, if I hadn't used "C.E.", I would have used "A.D."
Peggy Aycinena
Editor, ISD Magazine
