6 Best Free Electronic Design Automation Tools
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) is a type of
software that enables individuals to design electronic systems. These
systems
can be printed circuit boards (which mechanically support and
electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways)
and integrated circuits (an electronic circuit manufactured by
lithography, or the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the
surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material). The EDA tools
enable chip designers to design and analyze entire semiconductor chips.
The electronic design market has witnessed rapid expansion in
recent years, with the market becoming increasingly more global. With
the rise of semiconductor industries in many emerging countries, such as
China, good quality EDA software is in strong demand. EDA is a
complicated
business, involving a diverse set of software algorithms and
applications that are required for the design of intricate next
generation semiconductor and electronics products. EDA tools assist
designers capture and verify the functional
and physical characteristics of their designs before they actually
manufacture them. They also allow designers to design complex
products, which reduces the time to bring the electronic system
to market, and keep costs within budget.
There is a good range of EDA tools out that are released under
an open source license which let developers customize, and create their
latest designs. To provide an insight into the quality of software that
is
available, we have compiled a list of 6 high quality free Linux EDA
applications. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for
anyone who wants to design electronic systems.
Now, let's explore the 6 EDA tools at
hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full
description with an in-depth analysis of its features, a screenshot of
the software in action, together with links to relevant resources and
reviews.
| Electronic Design Automation |
| gEDA |
Full suite and toolkit of Electronic Design Automation
tools |
| Fritzing |
Suited
to the needs of designers and artists |
| KiCad |
Software suite for the creation of electronic schematics |
Magic
|
VLSI
layout editor, extraction, and DRC tool |
| KTechLab |
IDE for electronic and PIC microcontroller circuit
design and simulation |
| Electric |
The
Electric VLSI Design System |
Return to our complete collection of Group
Tests, identifying the finest Linux software.
Last Updated Saturday, October 27 2012 @ 09:21 AM EDT
| 
