EDAC welcomes new Communications Committee chair Nanette Collins !

The last quarter of 2015 was a busy one for the EDA Consortium. A highlight was the Phil Kaufman Award Dinner in November where EDAC shared hosting duties with the IEEE Council on EDA (CEDA) to honor Mentor GraphicsÂ’ Wally Rhines. EDAC also hosted a number of Emerging Companies Series events, detailed below.

JanuaryÂ’s been a busy month within EDAC as Executive Director Bob Smith puts some finishing touches on changes and new initiatives that will be rolled out in the coming months. Be sure to read his bylined monthly blog post on EDACafe, describing the way in which EDAC serves the community, for more information.

Also in the works are a number of events for 2016 that will provide both educational and networking opportunities. Be sure to check edac.org for announcements and details as they become available.

Be sure to check the photos from recent EDAC events available on our Facebook page!

In October 2015, the Emerging Companies Committee kicked of its new legal series with an informative panel, Patents and Patent Litigation: Develop, Strengthen, and Protect Your Intellectual Property. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo opened the event, which included the Director of the USPTO Silicon Valley branch, John Cabeca. [ More information and video.]

The popular EDAC - Jim Hogan Emerging Companies Series continued in December, featuring a conversation with John Lee, GM/VP at Ansys. [ More information and audio.] Previous installments of the EDAC - Jim Hogan series, are available in the EDAC media library.

The committee is busy planning events for 2016, including additional installments of the new legal series. The Jim Hogan series continues in 2016 with an evening featuring Ajoy Bose, former CEO of Atrenta, to be held on March 1 in conjunction with DVCon. Visit edac.org for details and registration.

There have been many news reports about Iran and Cuba. As you’ve all heard, on January 16th the U.S., EU and Iran reached “Implementation Day”, resulting in relaxation on sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. and EU governments. The result?

1. Very few changes for US individuals and companies (known as “US Persons”)
2. Somewhat greater changes for foreign companies owned or controlled by “US Persons”
3. More significant changes for foreign companies that have no “US Person” ownership, and are not trading in any US-origin content.

In terms of Cuba, on January 26th the US government announced further relaxation on controls, primarily targeted towards airline safety, telecommunications (allowing Cubans to more-easily access the outside world) and agriculture. However nothing has changed in terms of providing EDA tools or services into this nation … yet. When & if this changes, you will be subjected to months of press articles before the changes become effective. Relaxations like this do not happen overnight.

This is a complicated area, and even those businesses involved in areas where sanctions have been lifted are treading very slowly and carefully. If youÂ’re thinking there are opportunities, your first step should be to consult a learned trade attorney.

The Interoperability Committee continues to address the status of various operating systems and their applicability to EDA.

The committee continues to evaluate upcoming releases of RHEL and SUSE, as well as Windows 10, focusing on issues important to EDA vendors and customers. This includes stability, long term support, compatibility, and other issues.

We are currently in the planning stages for the annual OS Vendor Review, when the committee gathers for a full day of product roadmap presentations from OS vendors.

Be sure to check the EDAC OS Roadmap for the latest information as you plan upcoming projects and purchases.

Congratulations to Dr. Walden C. Rhines, Chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics, on being honored with the 2015 Phil Kaufman Award! Wally was honored for his leadership role in growing EDA and IC Design Industries at an award presentation and dinner on November 12, 2015. The evening featured a tribute from Dr. Craig Barrett, former Chairman and CEO of Intel. [ More information and videos .]

Who's next? Be sure to submit your nominations for the 2016 Phil Kaufman Award!

On November 12, John Harms (EDAC-LMA chairman) and Derek Magill (CELUG chairman) met with the EDAC Board of Directors to discuss HostID duplication handling. The conversation went very well, and the Board members expressed full support for the committee's proposed direction. There are ongoing technical and business problems to solve, but with the Board's positive response, the EDAC-LMA committee can move forward with greater confidence.

One of the benefits of EDAC is that it provides a forum to discuss issues affecting our mutual customers. Recently, Flexera notified the ISVs about a security vulnerability in their license server components. Since Flexera never delivers server components directly to the end-users, it is up to the ISVs to notify and send patches to customers. With a large number of mutual customers who would receive multiple notifications, it makes sense for the notices to be consistent in tone and depth. Mentor Graphics shared with EDAC-LMA colleagues the notice they are sending out, giving the other committee members an opportunity to use or adapt that material for their own customer notices.

The MSS report for Q3, 2015, released in September, reported EDA industry revenue of $1.96B, an increase of 7.1% compared to Q3, 2014. [ Press release ] Highlights of the Q3 report , along with highlights of the previous 4 quarters, are available on the EDAC web site MSS page . The full report is available to EDAC member companies.

Design, Automation, and Test in Europe (DATE) is coming up! The advance program for this popular conference is now available for download. DATE 2016 will be held on March 14 through 18 in Dresden, Germany. It will be have two special days each highlighting Automotive Systems and Security Systems with keynotes, panels, tutorials and technical presentations

The 53rd Design Automation Conference (DAC) will be held on June 5 through 9 in Austin, TX. This year, the Designer Track and IP Track are interweaved to encourage more synergy between designers and IP developers. The combined track will include presentations, poster sessions and a rich set of invited talks/panels to facilitate information exchange and interactions. DAC is also hosting a silicon and technology art show this year, and wants you to participate ! DAC has many opportunities to showcase your company and products including exhibit/suite space, special promotional opportunities, Virtual DAC, customer meetings, and social functions.