Innovator Profiles-Joe Santos

Veteran EDA software developer Joe Santos was not trying to change the design automation industry when he joined Cadence Design Systems Inc. in 1999 to head the OpenAccess database effort. But the results of his labors point in that direction.

OpenAccess could overhaul the EDA software environments used for chip design. By providing an industry-standard database and application programming interface for tools from different vendors, it could put an end to hodgepodge collections of tools that can’t easily talk to one another. Perhaps more significant, OpenAccess will allow EDA startups, university research groups and in-house CAD departments to develop algorithmic engines quickly to solve complex chip design problems, without having to reinvent a database in order to deploy a tool.

Santos had worked at Cadence from 1984 to 1995, left to launch a virtual-reality gaming startup and came back after that venture had failed. He embraced the OpenAccess project with gusto and forged a strong software-engineering team with ambitious goals.

By all accounts, Santos was a demanding boss—many team members didn’t make it past their first year. But his persistence paid off. While Santos has moved on to become a Cadence Fellow in the company’s “future incubation” group, the OpenAccess database is now available as an open standard through the Silicon Integration Initiative.