In the 1980s , the academic community produced several very high-quality electronic design automation (EDA) tools that spawned the EDA industry. Tools such as Spice [1] , Espresso [2] , and SIS [3] became the foundation of EDA companies. Open-source tools enable rapid innovation and create an ecosystem for scientific development. In recent years, the cost and difficulty involved in the design of integrated circuits (ICs) in advanced nodes have stifled hardware design innovation and have raised unprecedented barriers to bring new design ideas to the marketplace. Unlike the thriving software community, which enjoys a large number of open-source operating systems, compilers, libraries, and applications, the hardware community lacks such a modern ecosystem. With the advent of open silicon IP ecosystems, such as RISCV, Chips Alliance, and Free Silicon Foundation, the time has come to reinvigorate the open-source movement in EDA tools. Recent programs from governmental agencies aim to jump-start the development of open-source EDA tools to reduce the cost and turnaround time of hardware design.

中文翻译：

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客座编辑介绍：开源 EDA 技术的复兴


在 20 世纪 80 年代，学术界生产了几种非常高质量的电子设计自动化 (EDA) 工具，催生了 EDA 行业。 Spice [1] 、Espresso [2] 和 SIS [3] 等工具成为 EDA 公司的基础。开源工具可实现快速创新并创建科学发展的生态系统。近年来，先进节点集成电路 (IC) 设计所涉及的成本和难度阻碍了硬件设计创新，并为将新设计理念推向市场带来了前所未有的障碍。与蓬勃发展的软件社区拥有大量开源操作系统、编译器、库和应用程序不同，硬件社区缺乏这样一个现代化的生态系统。随着 RISCV、Chips Alliance 和 Free Silicon Foundation 等开放硅 IP 生态系统的出现，重振 EDA 工具开源运动的时机已经到来。政府机构最近的计划旨在快速启动开源 EDA 工具的开发，以降低硬件设计的成本和周转时间。