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From: kiely@lownlab.harvard.edu (James P. Kiely)
Newsgroups: comp.lsi.cad,sci.electronics
Subject: CAD for ASIC's, PLD's, PAL's and PCB's
Summary: Which package is decent?
Keywords: DASH, ABEL, PCAD, CUPL, PADS
Message-ID: <743@husc6.harvard.edu>
Date: 2 Dec 88 04:43:29 GMT
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Reply-To: kiely@lownlab.harvard.edu (James P. Kiely)
Organization: Lown Cardiovascular Laboratory, Harvard University
Lines: 39
Distribution:

I am planning to purchase a CAD system for designing programmable
logic devices: ASIC's, PLD's, PAL's, etc.
It looks to me like ABEL from DataIO/FutureNet is the best thing
available for this...
but...
I want to be able to use the same package for Printed Circuit Board
layout.  DataIO/Futurenet recent dropped their PCB package so if I
go with them I could use DASH for schematic capture but I would have
to interface it with some other PCB package.  This may seem easy but
back-annotation of chip and gate swaps can become a nightmare.

If I go with CUPL (originally from Personal CAD Systems, now from
Logical Devices) I can interface directly with PCAD (from Personal
CAD Systems).  I am not convinced that CUPL is as good as ABEL
and I am a little wary about the fact that CUPL has changed ownership
twice in the last two years.  I have also been informed by a relatively
unreliable source that CUPL will not support devices with more than
1200 gates.

Another factor is price.  PADS from CAD Systems appears to be a good
schematic capture and PCB layout& router package and is much cheaper
than PCAD.  But it has now direct interface with any programmable
logic chip design package.

Would I be best off with PADS and some interface to ABEL?
Or is it that important to have a single intergated system?

Does anyone out there have any suggestions?
Does anyone out there have any experience with these or any other
such CAD packages that they would care to recommend or warn me
against?
Please respond via email.  I will post a summary to the net.
Thanks.

=============================================================================
NAME:     James P. Kiely                USPS:   Kiely Laboratories
USENET:   ...!harvard!lownlab!kiely             P.O. Box 624
DOMAIN:   kiely@lownlab.harvard.edu             Allston, MA 02134-0624
PHONE:    +1 617 782 4136                       USA