( ESNUG 573 Item 2 ) -------------------------------------------- [06/09/17]
Subject: 263 engineers on their present day SPICE use and SPICE leaders
"How many different SPICE vendors does your group use?"
In addition, it's common (~60%) for design groups to use SPICE simulators
from at least 2 different SPICE vendors. This is because of two reasons:
- Not all SPICE is equal. Just because a particular SPICE
simulator simulates memory designs well, it does not mean
it can simulate AMS designs well.
- Keep their options open. A number of the major SPICE buyers
are acutely aware of the dangers of being locked into only
one SPICE vendor. It's best to all have 2nd source vendors.
And, of course, there are the Top Tier IDM's and fabs who buy every SPICE
simulator that exists. These are the rare 0.7% 5 vendors users above.
- 317 engineers surveyed on general SPICE use & SPICE requirements
From: [ Amit Gupta of Solido Design ]
Hi, John,
Below is where 263 engineers told us what specific SPICE vendor tools that
they currently use, along with their perception of the SPICE simulator
leaders -- broken down by different sectors.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
WHAT SPICE USERS ARE USING IN 2017 VS. 2016
Here are the relative SPICE vendor use proportions. These can be different
from the SPICE market share numbers because the data here is on what the
SPICE users are actually using now; not on the dollars they spent on SPICE
that year. Also, look above in my earlier quote -- it's very common for
customers to use two or more SPICE vendors -- so don't be surprised that
the 2017 data adds up to 167%.
All of Mentor's numbers include Eldo, BDA AFS, and Tanner T-Spice.
For the SPICE usage data, we've asked the same question for three years in
a row.
This year, Cadence widened its usage leadership over Synopsys by 6 points,
to reach 71 percent. (Cadence gained 3 points, and Synopsys lost 3 points).
Silvaco's usage numbers dropped -- it looks like their investment in SPICE
is not paying off.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
PERCEPTIONS TURN INTO REALTTY
The rest of this link are results of what a 3rd party outside consultant
found as the technology leaders in the subsections of the SPICE market.
I actually paid for this information. Why? Not because it's a fun exercise
to keep marketing people busy. It's because the hard proportional data on
exactly who the perceived technology leaders are now, directly translates
into the proportional sales in 12 months. If this data is collected without
hidden bias, it's amazingly repeatable and accurate.
The EDA perceptions of now grow into the EDA sales of 12 months from now.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
AMS, CUSTOM DIGITAL, RF DESIGN
Synopsys Drops: Cadence has slightly strengthened over the past 3 years,
while Synopsys has dropped significantly. This is consistent with Cadence
Virtuoso Analog Design Environment (ADE) having approximately 80% market
share. In contrast, Synopsys' investments in this area have not paid off,
with their HSPICE and FineSim simulators not doing well in this market.
Mentor Held Ground: Mentor saw a doubling of leadership perception between
2015 and 2016 -- when Ravi's BDA first entered Mentor's channel -- since
then BDA AFS has held that ground this past year.
The smaller vendors, including Keysight, Silvaco, Infinisim and ProPlus,
remained relatively unchanged.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
MEMORY DESIGN
Memory designers tend to be very fickle, always picking the best SPICE
simulator in terms of speed, accuracy, and capacity for their particular
node.
"SPICE is interesting in that you enter through memory; it's the
most unforgiving market there is. Zero tolerance. You gotta
have the best tool or they toss your tool out. Memory designers
have no loyalty to any SPICE vendor. This why Synopsys has
9 different SPICE simulators."
- Gary Smith during the DAC'14 Troublemakers Panel
Also memory designers are not locked in to any one SPICE simulator by an
environment since memory simulations are done at the command line.
In addition, because memory cells are highly repetitive, SPICE simulators
can use this fact to get much better performance compared to general
SPICE simulators.
Trading Places: A big change this year! For the first time, Cadence now
leads this market in leadership perception. They grew from 30% to 36% to
45% in only 3 years. Synopsys used to be #1, but has remained flat at
around ~42%.
- It appears Cadence Spectre and Spectre XPS, combined with their
increased investment in the memory characterization market, is
paying off.
- Conversely, the many Synopsys SPICE simulators for memory
simulation such as HSPICE, FineSim, and CustomSim, are losing
traction in the market.
Mentor Stable: After dropping from 17% to 11% last year, Mentor held their
position this year.
Out of the Game: Also notable that both ProPlus and Silvaco dropped to 0%
this year -- their investments in this market have failed to pay off.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
STANDARD CELL DESIGN
Neck-and-Neck: Synopsys stayed flat, while Cadence crept up on them. It's
now 46% vs 45%, a virtual tie. Much of standard cell SPICE simulation is
driven by library characterization tools. Cadence's continued investment
in their Liberate (Altos) is paying off.
The other vendors, including Mentor, Silvaco, Keysight, InfiniSim and
ProPlus, all remain relatively unchanged in this market.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
OVERALL IN SPICE FOR 2017
In summary, Cadence gained across the board, both overall and in the
individual segments. Synopsys mostly lost ground, while Mentor remained
the stable #3 vendor.
Back in 2014, in ESNUG 537 #7, I made the following two predictions:
- CDNS and BDA will chase after SNPS for the SPICE memory market
in 2014, and will announce customer wins since they have viable
product alternatives and customers want a second source supplier.
- CDNS will chase after SNPS for the SPICE std cell market in 2014,
and will announce customer wins with the Virtuoso Spectre/Altos
Liberate flow.
Now, 3 years later, I'm happy to see this survey data shows I was right. :)
- Amit Gupta
Solido DA San Jose, CA
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Related Articles:
263 engineers surveyed on their Custom IC design types & nodes
263 engineers on their present day SPICE use and SPICE leaders
And the variation part of Amit's 263 engineer SPICE survey...
Amit added 263 engineers on Library Characterization this year!
Join
Index
Next->Item
|
|
