ICU 2003 Guide to the Conference
Welcome
Welcome to the 2003 edition of the International Cadence Usergroup conference, where our focus is Users helping Users. The usergroup is an independent, not-for-profit organization of users of Cadence products who meet annually at a conference in the fall and interact throughout the year, sharing solutions, ideas, and frustrations. It is independent of Cadence but maintains strong ties at all levels into the company in order to conduct its business. Membership to the Usergroup is open to any and all people involved with the use of software produced by Cadence Design Systems.
The goal of the conference is to bring Cadence users together to share information, ideas, and solutions. We are all more productive when we better understand the features, limitations, and applications of (Cadence) electronic design tools. Some examples:
- Shortcuts that accelerate design cycle time
- Learn about software bugs or problems that other users have already found and solved
- Find out about changes in the tools you use, and how they will affect your design methodology
- Insights into Cadence priorities and technical directions, and provide feedback to keep Cadence on track
- Network with Cadence employees and other users to put faces to the names of people you have worked with
The annual conference is organized by users for users and boasts a comprehensive program that includes:
- Technical papers by user and Cadence experts
- Five parallel tracks covering 18 themes and 75 papers!
- Low cost half day tutorials on Sunday and Thursday
- Third party Vendor Fair on Tuesday night
- Technical Panel Sessions
- Q&A forums with Cadence Application Engineers
- Cadence product demonstrations on Wednesday night
- Interaction with Cadence R&D, Executive, AE and Marketing staff
Meeting Organization
This year, the conference has both general sessions and Special Interest Themes. General Sessions include keynote addresses, the executive panel, and other events that meet the common interest of all attendees. We have continued the use of themes and have 18 themes divided into 5 concurrent tracks. Typically, there are two concurrent sessions each for IC and PCB. The fifth track encompasses Systems Administration and additional IC topics. Again this year, we have returned to covering both front-end and back-end design issues in the PCB and IC interest areas. Be sure to let the ICU Board know what you think of this structure.
The ICU Board
The planning team for this conference includes ten user volunteers, meeting planners that work for the Board, and three Cadence employees whose job includes assisting us with the International Usergroup meetings. These people include:
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Executive: Donna J Ducharme – Texas Instruments - Conference Chair |
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IC: Anna Votino – Intel
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PCB: Carl Musetti – Infinicon Systems |
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Cadence: Donna Castillo – Cadence Liaison |
System Administration / SOC: Charlie Davies – Harris Semiconductor |
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Also essential to the success of this conference are the Cadence Champions. These Cadence employees serve as the primary interface between the board and their corresponding Cadence business units. As area experts, they assist in securing the technical and marketing presentations for the SIG tracks. They also assist the ICU team in securing Cadence and customers for the numerous panel discussions throughout the conference. For 2003, this group includes::
- Dave Desharnais - Synthesis Place & Route
- Steve Durrill - PCB Front End
- Saverio Fazzari - IC Front End
- Ed Hickey - PCB Back End
- Kerry McClennan - Custom IC
- Terry Ma - IC DFM / Physical Verification
- Dennis Rockwood - Specctra
All of the Board positions are filled each year at the conference through an election process. If you would like to help plan the ICU conference or to get more information please review the ICU Bylaws.
Guide to the Program
This year the conference will span four days. Sunday Tutorials held at the hotel, and three days of technical sessions. Attendees can thus customize their conference attendance based on the needs of their companies and the applicability of conference content to their careers.
Detailed schedules and room assignments are included in your registration package and posted near the registration desk. Late breaking changes will be announced during breakfast and lunch. Further questions can always be asked at the registration desk. Be sure to wear your conference badge at all times, including the evening events.
Conference attendees are welcome to attend activities from any SIG track throughout the week. In general, SIGs will be held in the same room throughout the conference.
Scheduled throughout the duration of the conference are presentations developed by experts – both user and Cadence employees. The ICU Board believes these are one of the most valuable components of the conference and shapes the program accordingly. Attending paper presentations and reading the conference proceedings can provide a wealth of information for attendees. The MVP (Most Valuable Presenter) awards during Wednesday’s Product Demos recognize the best presentation in each SIG.
Click here for the Winners of the ICU MVP Awards
Also scheduled in each SIG are time blocks where hot issues are discussed. Items from the previous year are reviewed, along with Cadence’s response. Items for this year’s hot issue list are also collected. If you have specific issues with a tool or methodology, this is the right time to discuss it with other issues and suggest it for the hot issues list. If necessary, see the SIG Chair and Co-Chairs to discuss this process.
Tutorials offered at this conference are courtesy of Cadence (instructors, instructional materials, content). With user input, the ICU selects Tutorial topics and the Cadence Champions do the rest to help staff and develop the tutorial content. The tutorial fee is set to subsidize room and food costs for the attendees. Feedback is generally very positive for this training that it has valuable content very similar to standard Cadence training courses.
You must be registered for a tutorial in order to attend it. See the registration desk for space availability. Generally, instructional material and handouts from the tutorials are not available for purchase to those who did not register and attend the tutorial.
Sunday evening is conference registration and the Registration Reception. Renew friendships with colleagues from past conferences and other industry events. Review the schedule and abstracts that will be presented. Revive yourself with food and drink.
Keynote speakers are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday mornings. Monday will open with welcoming remarks from Donna J Ducharme, ICU Chairman and Lavi Lev, Executive Vice President. In addition Charlie Giorgetti, Corporate VP and General Manager, SPB Systems Division and Ted Vucurevich, Sr. VP, Office of the CTO described how Cadence is strategically planning its role in the future.
Monday afternoon will start the technical portion of this conference. Blending a balance of Technical papers discussing current problems and solutions with product roadmaps and where applicable we lead you into Technical Panels encompassing both. There are five parallel tracks, SKILL/Open Access, IC Design Flow, IC Design Systems Verification, PSD Front to Back Data Management, and Specctra themes within these tracks.
Monday evening there will be an IEEE Verilog Standard's Group meeting held to solicit inputs on any other features our users would like to see. Although this meeting is not part of the ICU official conference, ICU supports it’s forum. We encourage you to take part in this meeting. Check our web site schedule for Monday night for suggested local entertainment as the schedule is open for the evening.
In addition, on Monday night, the ICU Board sponsored a special event in the Armory. Attendees had an opportunity to test a Segway Human Transporter machine and talk with three (3) of the development engineers from Segway. In addition there was pool tables, electronic darts and large screen TV's while mingling with felow ICU attendees.
Tuesday opens with breakfast and a Cadence keynote speaker, Ted Vucurevich, Sr. VP, Office of the CTO.
Tuesday focuses on SIG presentations on the following themes: IC Physical Design, Transistor Level Simulation/Models, IC Design Data Management, PSD Design Automation, What’s New in PSD 15.x Front to Back, IC Digital, and Allegro APD. Come hear the experts and find out how to better use Cadence tools and improve the design effort at your company. Preview the schedule and abstract information provided in your registration packet to guide you in selecting the most appropriate presentations for you. Please also think about presenting at next year’s conference.
Tuesday night is the annual Vendor Fair, co-sponsored by Sun Microsystems. Representatives of 45+ companies will be present to show you products that extend and improve your investment in Cadence software. A complete list of vendors and their locations are included in the registration packet. Food and Drink are provided as you stroll Vendor booths looking at their offerings.
Wednesday continues with a full day of Expert presentations in the SIGs with these themes: Physical Verification, IC System Administration, PCB High Speed, PCB Design Data Management, and Signal Integrity. Please be sure to complete the speaker voting and comment sheets.
Wednesday night will be Product Fair and Demo Night, held at the Center of New Hampshire Expo Center. Please refer to your registration packet for a list and detailed descriptions of the demos. Entertainment and Refreshments will be available. We will recognize the Most Valuable Presentations from the conference, and introduce the new ICU Board for the 2004 conference.
See you in Santa Clara, California next year - September 13-15, 2004