Tooling is a blip on the radar of the cost of the designs I work on. Verification is usually the most expensive aspect. 10x tooling even if the tools were purchased for, that project alone, which would be very unusual.
However, for open source to flourish, high quality open source simulators are required. I think if we had that, synthesis and place&route would follow. You don't need synthesis or par to do design and verification, but you do need simulation.
I look into the state of OS simulators periodically. Some are impressive, but mostly just handle the design basics... an OS systemverilog, static and dynamic, simulator would be a game changer.
It's a Herculean task though. I don't know how much Xilinx makes off tooling. I have to think they would make more from FPGA sales if tooling were free, and if it were open source, it would no doubt be improved upon by degrees I can only fantasize about.
Simulators, and by extension synthesis and place & route tools, are complementary goods to FPGA hardware. Make your complementary goods cheap, and you make a lot of money.
But there are tool companies out there such as Mentor and Synopsys that make a lot of money from such proprietary tooling. I imagine simulators have a tough patent field to navigate.
However, for open source to flourish, high quality open source simulators are required. I think if we had that, synthesis and place&route would follow. You don't need synthesis or par to do design and verification, but you do need simulation.
I look into the state of OS simulators periodically. Some are impressive, but mostly just handle the design basics... an OS systemverilog, static and dynamic, simulator would be a game changer.
It's a Herculean task though. I don't know how much Xilinx makes off tooling. I have to think they would make more from FPGA sales if tooling were free, and if it were open source, it would no doubt be improved upon by degrees I can only fantasize about.
Simulators, and by extension synthesis and place & route tools, are complementary goods to FPGA hardware. Make your complementary goods cheap, and you make a lot of money.
But there are tool companies out there such as Mentor and Synopsys that make a lot of money from such proprietary tooling. I imagine simulators have a tough patent field to navigate.