This year, one of DAC's hottest topics was low-power design. Only a few system-level tool suites are geared toward low-power design. One of them hails from ChipVision, which is noteworthy because of its development of a design tool called ORINOCO. This tool executes at the pre-implementation level, where many feel that the greatest reductions in power consumption (up to 75%) can be made. In addition to traditional design-language entry C/C++, ORINOCO now supports SystemC. This support enables interoperability with other SystemC-supported design tools. The latest version of ORINOCO also gives designers even more advanced technical analysis. A new scheduling graphical user interface enables designers to view architectural decisions and their consequences, such as allocation, bindings, scheduling, and datapath dependencies.

ORINOCO is currently available. It is priced at $120,000 for a three-year license.

ChipVision Design
250 Montgomery St., Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 983-9565, www.chipvision.com.