International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD) Meets 7-11 November in San Jose

On behalf of the ICCAD 2004 Executive and Technical Program Committees, we invite you to attend the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design. We hope you visit the conference to learn about the latest advances in electronic design technology and automation.
The core of the conference is the technical program. This year, ICCAD received 520 submissions, the highest number in our history. Based on the results of a rigorous and thorough review, followed by a full day of face-to-face discussions, 127 papers were selected and compiled into an exciting final program that is enriched by multiple special sessions and events. Besides technical sessions, there are social hours every evening beginning Sunday and running through Wednesday. These are opportunities to meet colleagues for further discussion in a relaxed atmosphere and to develop networks for information exchange.
As in the previous two years, the conference activities begin on Sunday, 7 November. First, a workshop titled "IC design in 65 nm and beyond: Evolution or revolution?" is a forum where leading experts from industry and academia present their visionary views on the challenges and solutions for 65-nm design and beyond. There are two parallel tracks of three presentations each, focusing on system- and physical-design topics. Following the workshop, participants are invited to a concluding panel and the ICCAD opening reception. All conference registrants are welcome to attend the workshop, panel, and reception. On Sunday, ACM/SIGDA is sponsoring a CADathlon, a programming contest that challenges students' CAD knowledge and their skills in problem solving, programming, and teamwork.
The main part of the ICCAD conference begins on Monday morning with the keynote speaker, Peter Rickert, Director of Platform Technology Development at Texas Instruments, giving a talk titled "Problems or opportunities? Beyond the 90-nm frontier." The technical program follows with 38 regular paper sessions and five embedded tutorials on "Statistical STA," "Variability impact on design," "Formal verification," "Design-manufacturing interface," and "Transaction-level modeling." The Monday night panel, "Divine for dollars," focuses on the next EDA innovations that can change the way chips are developed.
Multiple side events complement the technical program and enhance the overall ICCAD schedule. The Technology Fair on Tuesday provides a forum where conference attendees can meet industry R&D colleagues to discuss technical challenges and solutions, or simply make new contacts. The Technology Fair reception follows in the evening and is a perfect opportunity to network with the vendors and colleagues.
The conference concludes on Thursday, 11 November, with the 2004 tutorial program. This year we are introducing a new format for the tutorials. Six half-day tutorials will be offered and attendees will receive the full set of notes so that they can freely choose any morning and afternoon sessions. Special care has been taken in the selection of topics and speakers so that there is a good balance of theoretical aspects and real industrial practices. The tutorials cover the topics "Power reduction techniques," "Industrial power reduction experiences," "Physical design at 90 nm," "Signal integrity and reliability," "Clock distribution," and "New algorithm for CAD."
On behalf of the organizers of ICCAD, we thank everyone involved in the 2004 event. In particular, we thank the members of the Executive and Technical Program Committees, everyone at MP Associates, and the many volunteers from our sponsoring societies. Also, we give our sincere thanks to all the authors who submitted papers with valuable results, since their contributions form the basis of our technical excellence.
As we move into the era of nano-scale integrated circuits, many issues will confront us, such as complexity, manufacturability, and power dissipation. These issues can be overcome by tighter collaboration among EDA researchers, designers, manufacturers, and application engineers. ICCAD 2004 offers an ideal place for these people to meet and exchange ideas about the challenges and solutions for the future. We are looking forward to an exciting ICCAD 2004, and we hope that you will join us in November.

Hidetoshi Onodera
General Chair

Majid Sarrafzadeh
Technical Program Chair