The Right Tools for the Job

One of the major differences between, (a) Printed Circuit Board (PCB) based electronic design that uses commercially available Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP) integrated circuits, and (b) either semi-custom or full custom ASIC design, is the necessity to rely on Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software tools for ASIC design.

The choice of software tools and the interoperability among these tools (tool flow), significantly affects project conceptualization, management, implementation, and verification, for ASIC designs.

The software tools and tool flow should fit the needs of your project and organization, not the other way round.

Unfortunately, the perceived high cost and complexity of these tools prevents some companies, which could benefit from ASIC designs, from pursuing this option. It doesn't need to. ASI's experience with many tools from many vendors can help design the best approach for your project and organization.