Xref: utzoo comp.lsi:816 comp.lsi.cad:258 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!pasteur!shambhala.Berkeley.EDU!ricks From: ricks@shambhala.Berkeley.EDU (Rick L Spickelmier) Newsgroups: comp.lsi,comp.lsi.cad Subject: Re: octtools or Menter Graphics' package (help wanted) Keywords: Oct, VLSI packages Message-ID: <17885@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 30 Sep 89 22:22:38 GMT References: <1919@unocss.UUCP> Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU Reply-To: ricks@berkeley.edu Organization: UC Berkeley IC CAD Group Lines: 28 At the very least, you should get the latest Oct Tools, version 3.4. As far as how they compare, the Oct Tools are the result of University research, are supported to a limited degree, run on many machines, have limited documentation, come with full source, and are free. The Mentor tool suite is the result of professional CAD tool builders, are fully supported, run on the Apollo, has binders and binders of documentation, and costs you money. Which one you want to use depends upon what platforms you have, how much money you have, and how much support you want. As the manager of the Oct Tools distribution, I can say that there are many happy users of the Oct Tools, although there are some problems. The Oct Tools are used primarily in Universities (for VLSI and CAD tool courses, and VLSI/CAD research). They are also used at some Industrial sites (mainly in CAD research groups). One major advantage of the Oct Tools is that you get all of the source and there is a well defined procedural interface to the system so you can add your own CAD tools. For more information on the Oct Tools, mail to 'octtools@eros.Berkeley.EDU'. There are also various journal and conference papers describing the framework of the Oct Tools and the tools that make up the distribution. Rick Spickelmier Oct Tools Manager UC Berkeley ricks@berkeley.EDU