Slide 22 of 46
Notes:
The fundamental challenge we face is not simply one of tools, or circuits, or process, or architecture in isolation. It is the complex interaction of all of these elements that demands a complete reassessment of our approaches to the design process, our design methodology.
Such approaches require a broad and balanced perspective on all issues in the design process, coupled with a willingness to let go of old ideas and architectures at all levels.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely industry alone ill find a way to solve these problems. The major industrial players: semiconductor companies, system companies, and EDA vendors are faced with a form of Prisoners Dilemma. None is willing or able to make the wide range of investments needed to break out of the current paradigm, each one individually is dissatisfied with the state of the others, and yet each has a strong vested interest in maintaining its piece of the status quo. There is evidence from the past, however, that when presented with a new strawman approach to design, industry is quick to coopt it. This was certainly the case when industry adopted the DARPA-sponsored architectural and EDA developments of the past fifteen years.
It is necessary to develop a new set of strawman systems, embodying a new set of methodologies, to motivate a new generation of industrial innovation in semiconductors and design.