Sir Isaac Newton once remarked, “If I have seen further [than certain other
men], it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” This book is based on
the experiences and hard work of many giants in the design and verification of
modern ICs. It would be impossible to list all the individuals who have contributed
to the collected knowledge contained in this book, but it would be
foolish to not acknowledge their contribution.
I have encountered many “giants” in my career who have taken the time
and had the patience to teach me much of what is contained in this text. For
that I would like to acknowledge the friends and co-workers I have worked
with at Sun Microsystems, 0-In Design Automation, StratumOne Communications
and Cisco Systems. Special thanks to Willis Hendly, David Kaffine,
James Antonellis, Curtis Widdoes, and Richard Ho.
This book is the product of the efforts of many people at Cadence Design
Systems, and I would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions
and efforts in reviewing the text: Andreas Meyer, Grant Martin, Leonard
Drucker, Neyaz Khan, Phu Huynh, Lisa Piper, and the entire Methodology
Engineering team.
I want to acknowledge Linda Fogel for her tireless and professional editing,
along with Kristen Willett, Kristin Lietzke, and Gloria Kreitman in
Cadence’s marketing communications group.
A special acknowledgement to Paul Estrada for providing me the opportunity
and time to write this book and for showing faith in me when even I was
ready to give up. One could not ask for a better mentor or friend.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the true giants of my life, my parents,
Eleanor and Gary Wilcox, for their love and support, and for teaching me the
nobility of education.