Euro DesignCon 2005

Euro DesignCon has been a sister conference to our very successful Santa-Clara based DesignCon program in Munich, Germany for the last two years. While the initiative has been successful in some ways, in other ways the event has not matched overall industry objectives. Consequently, IEC will not conduct Euro DesignCon in 2006.

DesignCon 2006 was a very successful event this year and dates have already been reserved for DesignCon 2007, January 29 – February 1, 2007, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. DesignCon 2007 exhibit space is currently available for reservation and we are expecting another record-breaking year with over 150 exhibiting companies.

DesignCon Paper Award Winners
Winners are selected from a group of finalists chosen by the Technical Program Committee. Awards are determined based on the quality of the written technical paper, as well as its presentation at the conference.
View the award-winning papers »

The European semiconductor and electronic design engineering communities once again came together to focus on industry progress. The International Engineering Consortium would like to thank the industry for its support of Euro DesignCon 2005.

The second annual Euro DesignCon opened today at the ArabellaSheraton Hotel in Munich. TecForums were the focus of the day, providing attendees with in-depth technical tutorials on leading-edge topics of concern to the semiconductor and electronic design engineering communities. Highlights included a TecForum organized by industry training provider, Doulos, focusing on SystemVerilog assertions.

Monday's Keynote Address was delivered by Wally Rhines, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mentor Graphics. Dr. Rhines tied several themes together in his projection on the future of EDA and chip design. In particular, he identified C++ and electronic system level (ESL) design as providing the next level of abstraction to enable more complex designs, as FPGAs allow the next cycle of customized applications to develop within a standardized framework for manufacturing.

The day closed with a panel organized by Martin Speitel, Group Manager, Fraunhofer IIS and chaired by Wolfgang Rosenstiel, Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, Tübingen University. The panel complemented the keynote address by Wally Rhines, presenting an expert panel discussing SystemC and C++ reference models in ESL design flows.

The Euro DesignCon Conference and Technology Exhibition were in full swing on Tuesday. Highlights included the following:

Technical papers in six distinct tracks
TecPreview presentation and technology demonstration delivered by eASIC
Two compelling afternoon conference panels, the first chaired by Martin Radetzki, Consultant, edacentrum, discussing outsourcing chip and electronic design, followed by a second panel, chaired by David Abercrombie, design for manufacturing program manager, Mentor Graphics, which explored increasing yield levels through the use of nanometer design

Automotive electronic design was a strong focus of the event on Tuesday. Riccardo Ferrari, General Manager, Automotive Products Group, STMicroelectronics, delivered the keynote address, outlining the special challenges faced by automotive electronics designers, both in terms of the operating environment and the demands of new applications in the area of safety. A co-located program on automotive IC design, hosted by Bayern Innovativ, was also part of the day's automotive electronics focus.

Another highlight of the day was the opening of the technology exhibition, featuring leading organizations displaying the latest design tools and products. A staple of the Euro DesignCon technology exhibition is the direct access attendees receive to suppliers of the tools driving tomorrow's designs. The day concluded with a networking reception sponsored by 1st Silicon and ZFOUNDRY.

Day three of Euro DesignCon, held at the ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel in Munich, Germany, featured another full day of technical papers and panel sessions. The panel sessions included a plenary panel led by Christoph Kutter, senior vice president of the communication business group at Infineon Technologies, addressing design challenges for mobile devices, and four Conference Panels chaired by and composed of industry leaders.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul, member of the management board at Infineon Technologies and head of Infineon's communications business group. Professor Eul's address picked up the theme of mobile device challenges introduced by the plenary panel. He noted how past challenges in this area have been met and urged the engineers in the audience to continue sharing ideas and seeking solutions with their colleagues in the industry.

Wednesday was also the last day of the technology exhibition, where European semiconductor and electronic design engineers viewed the latest design tools and products on display while networking with peers at the reception on the exhibition floor.

The event closed with two TecForums. The first provided practical guidance on achieving portability in chip design. The TecForum was led by speakers from ARM, LSI Logic, and Synplicity. The second TecForum, presented by Agilent Technologies, discussed the limitations and accuracies of time- and frequency-domain analyses of physical-layer devices.

The Right Mix of Solutions and Interactions
Euro DesignCon features cutting-edge product case studies, design methodologies, and new product technologies all geared toward the European market. The technology exhibition provides a platform for peer-to-peer exchanges on innovative techniques, tools, and solutions.

Through a unique link between the technical sessions and the technology exhibition, you have the opportunity to discuss the latest products and technology solutions while networking with the innovative leaders who have these solutions on display.