Subject: 5 reader suggested rate-Synopsys-as-a-company questions

Hey, ESNUG readers,

 A few of you wrote in suggesting these 5 more multiple choice
 questions that they thought would be interesting.  If you could
 take 2 minutes to answer these, it would be greatly appreciated.

     - John Cooley
       DeepChip.com

 P.S. First survey: http://www.deepchip.com/wiretap/100316.html

 NOTE: ALL ANSWERS TO THIS USER SURVEY ARE COMPLETELY ANONYOUS!

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  Synopsys recently acquired CoWare and VaST, along with Virtio some
  3 years earlier.  As a Synopsys customer (choose all that applies):

       0- Our group does not do C stuff.

       1a- Despite Aart's interest, C is experimental EDA at best.
       1b- It's the future; we're glad Aart bought them.

       2- Oh, no! It gives SNPS a near monopoly in SystemC models!

       3a- Cool! It's free SystemC models in our SNPS package deal!
       3b- Cool! We'd even pay good cash for the SystemC models!

       4- Don't care.  We like (name co's) C tools more instead.

  Comments?


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  With regards to using Formality equivalence checking to check
  Design Compiler's output, we think (choose all that applies):

       0- Our group doesn't use equivalence checking tools.

       1a- Having one vendor check its own work ain't too smart.
       1b- We like having one vendor check its own work.

       2a- Formality's is good stuff; we're happy to pay for it.
       2b- Formality's free; we got it in a SNPS package deal.

       3a- Formality is fairly easy to use and bug free.
       3b- Formality is a sea of exceptions and it's a bug fest.

       4a- Support for Formality is pretty good.
       4a- Support for Formality is pretty bad.

       5- We use Cadence Verplex Conformal instead.

       6- We trust Conformal (choose: MORE or LESS) than Formality.

  Comments?


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  With regards to IC Compiler, our group's experience is (choose
  all that applies):

       0- Our group doesn't use any P&R tools whatsoever.

       1a- Love it!  ICC is fairly painless and easy to use.
       1b- ICC has 10,000 switches; you need a PhD to run it.

       2a- It's robust code; not many bugs in ICC
       2b- It's a nightmare; ICC is a hornet's nest of bugs!

       3a- ICC correlates (choose: WELL or POORLY) with PrimeTime
       3b- ICC correlates (choose: WELL or POORLY) to Calibre

       4- We use (name tools & co's) P&R instead.
       
  Comments?


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  Two years ago, Synopsys acquired Synplicity for $227 million.  Our
  thoughts on Synplicity since then are (choose all that applies):

       0- Our group doesn't use any FPGA synthesis.

       1a- We buy the Synplicity FPGA tools.
       1b- We buy the Mentor FPGA tools.
       1c- We use the free Xilinx tools.
       1d- We use the free Altera tools.

       2a- Synplicity is a shell of itself; was great, now dying.
       2b- Joining with Synopsys is making Synplicity even better.

  Comments?

       3a- Our group doesn't do any ASIC Prototyping in house.
       3b- Our group uses (name emulators & co's).

       4a- ASIC prototyping is now easier/cheaper for SNPS users!
       4b- We can do better/cheaper on our own rather than HAPS.

  Comments?


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  Poof!  A genie magically turns you into a famous CNBC Wall Street
  stock analyst.  A calls comes into your TV show asking you to rate
  Synopsys (NASDAQ: SNPS) stock.  Knowing what you know (you choose):

        1- Give SNPS shares a "Strong Buy" rating
        2- Give SNPS shares a "Moderate Buy" rating
        3- Give SNPS shares a "Hold" rating
        4- Give SNPS shares a "Moderate Sell" rating
        5- Give SNPS shares a "Strong Sell" rating

  What's the reasoning behind the rating you give for SNPS shares?


  AGAIN: ALL ANSWERS TO THIS USER SURVEY ARE COMPLETELY ANONYOUS!

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