42nd Design Automation Conference ``Wireless Wednesday'' Delivers Variety of Specialized Content for Wireless Designers.

BOULDER, Colo. -- The 42nd Design Automation Conference (DAC), the electronic design automation (EDA) industry's premier event, will feature "Wireless Wednesday" on Wednesday, June 15 to offer attendees and exhibitors an opportunity to participate in a series of technical sessions, pavilion panels, special displays and presentations highlighting wireless design. DAC will be held June 13-17, 2005 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif. and Wireless Wednesday is open to all conference attendees with full conference registration.

According to Gartner Dataquest, in 2004 wireless semiconductor revenue grew in excess of $35 billion, a growth increase of more than 40 percent from the previous year.

"In recognition of the tremendous recent and anticipated growth of wireless applications in the consumer electronics industry, and the impact this has on the EDA industry, this year DAC is dedicating an entire day to wireless design issues and challenges," said Steve Levitan, Professor, Computer Engineering, University of Pittsburgh and DAC New Initiatives Chair. "Conference attendees can turn to DAC and find the latest information on EDA and IP solutions that will help drive the next generation of wireless design and development."

In addition to technical sessions and panels, a Wireless Showcase in booth #1968 will display wireless products from leading IC, systems, EDA and IP companies. DAC attendees are also invited to participate in the "Wireless Walk," which will feature exhibitors showcasing products used in the design of wireless systems, including design tools, IP, foundry services and design services. When attendees arrive at the show, they will receive a "Wireless Walk" passport and map. As they visit participating EDA and IP exhibitors that provide solutions for use in wireless system design, they will receive a passport stamp. Those who collect enough stamps will be eligible to participate in a select drawing for a special gift.

Jan Rabaey of the University of California, Berkeley will lead a panel, "Wireless Platforms: GOPS for Cents and Milliwatts," discussing how data communication has overtaken voice as the main force behind the growth in wireless. Panelists will debate the various wireless implementation platforms that are breaking new ground, examining issues of efficiency, flexibility and programming models.

The "Wireless Wednesday" technical session will feature three presentations on the complexity of wireless systems together with the resource constraints, such as area, power and cost, requiring the use of advanced design methods. The first, "Design Methodology for Wireless Nodes with Printed Antennas," by Jean-Samuel Chenard, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, will discuss the use of EM simulators with PCB design tools. The second presentation, "MP Core: Algorithm and Design Techniques for Efficient Channel Estimation in Wireless Applications," by Yan Meng, University of California, Santa Barbara, will describe design steps for a parametrizable IP core for a wireless channel estimation engine. The final presentation, "From Myst to Methodology: Cross-Layer and System-Level Mixed-Signal Design Concepts in Actual Designs," by Wolfgang Eberle, IMEC, will present cross-layer system design methods to combine low power with flexibility in radios.

A special technical session, "Emerging Directions in Wireless," will feature Bill Krenik, Texas Instruments, on cognitive radios; Jeff Gilbert, Atheros, on MIMO approach to wireless LAN; Ahmad Bahai, CTO National, on ultra-low-energy transceivers for personal area networks; and Clark Nguyen, DARPA, on RF-MEMS.

Another special technical session, the annual "Best of Wireless at ISSCC," will spotlight four papers selected from the 2005 ISSCC conference on wireless designs.

Wireless Wednesday also includes three industry led discussions in the DAC Pavilion. The first, "Wireless Design: Can You Hear Me Now?" features panelists John Kaewell, Interdigital Communications, Inc; Mark Kent, Broadcom Corp.; and Ken Tallo, Intel Corp., discussing how EDA is addressing wireless development needs. A "Perspectives on Wireless" presentation will feature Gadi Singer, Intel Corp., on the future of wireless technology in a wirelessly connected world. Mike Muller, CTO of ARM, will lead the final pavilion panel, "The Wireless Carnac the Magnificent," discussing the state of the art of wireless devices and providing a vision of the wireless world of the future.

Registration

To register for DAC visit http://www.dac.com or call 1-800-321-4573 in the U.S. to request registration materials. The advance conference registration discount deadline is May 16th.

About DAC

DAC is the annual event where the electronics design community meets for a week-long forum of information exchange on management practices, products, methodologies and processes. Attended by more than 10,500 developers, designers, researchers, managers and engineers from leading electronics companies and universities worldwide, it offers a robust technical program covering the industry's hottest trends. Its vibrant exhibit floor includes more than 225 companies, many of whom are startups just introducing their first products. The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Design Automation (ACM/SIGDA), the Circuits and Systems Society and Computer Aided Network Design Technical Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE/CASS/CANDE) and the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDA Consortium). More details about DAC are found at: www.dac.com.