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Frequently Asked Questions

Is there still going to be a DACeZine?
- No. The DACeZine was discontinued for the 2010 DAC conference year; it has been replaced by the DAC.com Knowledge Center. The current plan is for articles in the Knowledge Center to be highlighted in targeted emails to the DAC mailing list, which includes the 20,000+ former subscribers to the DACeZine.
Can my DAC.com article be published elsewhere?
- Certainly. Remember - you (or your company/institution) hold the copyright. The permission form that an author must complete enables content to be posted on DAC.com, but does not otherwise transfer any rights.
- Example: If you work for a company and write a whitepaper for the Knowledge Center, the whitepaper can certainly appear on your company's website. DAC.com respectfully requests its authors to give a couple of days' lead time during which the new article can be found only at DAC.com .
- Example: If you are an academic and write a survey article or a technical deep-dive, its appearance in the DAC.com Knowledge Center does not entail archival publication or assignment of any copyright. Thus, its content should be usable in conference and journal submissions.
I have a previously-published company whitepaper. What do I need to do to publish it in the Knowledge Center?
- This question refers to the Knowledge Center's policy of not simply re-posting content. Thus, previously published whitepapers must be "updated or extended" before they are posted to DAC.com . The benefit of this is that the material becomes fresh again, with more value to the reader.
- First, there are a couple of "housekeeping" requirements.
  - "Age". We want to make sure that the whitepaper isn't too "stale". If it first appeared more than two years ago, it has likely reached its readership already, and the benefit of posting on DAC.com is small. If originally posted between one and two years ago - let's discuss. Less than a year old - definitely appropriate for the Knowledge Center.
  - "Marketing". We want to make sure that the whitepaper keeps a technical focus. Claims should be supported by technical discussion and data. Discussion should be balanced (e.g., why Technique A is better than Technique B should not be left as a matter of "religion"). It's better to speak of a generic type of tool or capability - then, at the end, mention that [My Company's Tool, XYZ] does the job very well.
- Second, here are some ways in which a whitepaper can typically be extended.
  - What were the reactions to the original version of the whitepaper? If the organization or motivation or terminology was confusing to readers, improve this in the new version!
  - Update the data and discussion (e.g., newer or larger testcases, how the challenges evolve at 40nm and below, new functionality or qualification (of a relevant tool) since the original publication, etc.).
  - Add some different types of data (e.g., scaling of memory and runtime with problem size, scaling in a multicore compute environment, etc.).
  - Add more detail of use model (e.g., a flow diagram, interoperabilities, etc.); this can also help make the article more accessible to a wider readership.
  - Along similar lines, make sure that the practical impact of the challenge (or the solution) is clear: it costs (or saves) 10 days in the tapeout schedule, etc.
  - Add more technical detail (e.g., discuss one or two subtleties / non-obvious aspects of the challenge or solution).
  - Add a "sidebar" from a customer that speaks to experience addressing the given challenge using the given approach or tool.
  - Turn the whitepaper into a jointly authored piece, with a partner or a customer.
  - The above are just some possibilities. There are many other possibilities as well - discuss with Andrew!
My presentation was accepted to appear in the 2012 User Track. What do I need to do to also publish an extended version at DAC.com?
- First of all, congratulations on your User Track acceptance - and it's great that you're interested in doing this. You've put a lot of work into your User Track paper, and this typically means that you can make a strong Knowledge Center article without much extra effort.
- Second, here are some suggestions that have been made for previous cases.
  - Add a bit to the introduction and motivation so that you can engage a wider readership. Why is X increasingly critical, why is X so difficult to get right, etc. -- i.e., the particular challenges of today and tomorrow for which your article sheds light on solutions.
  - Figures are always great for visual interest -- and, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Please keep as many of your figures as possible, and consider adding some more. Please also make sure that your figures are clearly explained in the text (!).
  - The flexible format of DAC.com allows you to add details - snippets from reports or logfiles, deep-dives into a couple of examples or a case study, etc. Depth can add a lot of value to your article. Consider discussing a different testcase or some alternate view of your result (screenshots, different metrics, etc.).
  - Of course, you should not completely reveal all your UT content and presentation materials. Ideally, you'll keep some difference in reserve (i.e., between your DAC.com article and your presentation to be given in Anaheim this coming June). In your article, you can point out what your readers can look forward to learning about when they attend your presentation in Anaheim.
- Third, with regard to process:
  - Please send your current User Track material to Andrew, and mention your plan for turning it into a DAC.com article, along with a proposed timeline.
  - Make sure that you put your article into the required MSWord template, which can be downloaded here .
  - Make sure that you have completed and sent in the permission form that allows DAC.com to post your article.
  - Send Andrew your first draft as soon as possible, to get the ball rolling! It usually takes just 1-2 short iterations to finalize and get your article up in the Knowledge Center.
What is the timeline for submitting an article that I want to see on DAC.com before the DAC conference timeframe?
- To my (= editor's) knowledge, the Publicity Chair plans to send out email blasts highlighting "batches" of additions to the Knowledge Center, and these batches will go live with each email blast. With the caveat that the exact timeline has dependencies on the rest of the DAC.com website development, my understanding is that the initial batch of ~13-14 articles will be highlighted in an email blast around March 25, and subsequent batches will be highlighted in email blasts roughly every two weeks after that - e.g., April 6, April 20, etc.
What is a "virtual interview"?
- In a "virtual interview", you (typically an executive or business / technology luminary) and the editor work together to present your unique perspectives, insights and opinions via a "Q and A" format. Since each "A" can be anywhere from a couple of sentences to a couple of paragraphs, and since the "Q" topics don't have to be connected to each other, it is easy to come up with bite-sized chunks that aren't required to flow seamlessly.
- Here are some example "virtual interview" question topics targeted toward leaders of R&D consortia or funding agencies.
  - Please say something about your background.
  - How long have you been in your current role at [consortium, company, research center]? (What are some significant changes during that time?)
  - What research areas today are particularly exciting? (E.g., examples of funded research.)
  - What do you see when you look into your crystal ball? (E.g., hot areas and trends in research funding.)
  - Have you encountered any challenges with respect to working across geographical or national boundaries?
  - What are the key issues and challenges in closing the gap between academic research and industrial practice?
  - How do you keep a consortium together in a tough economy?
  - What was "wild and crazy" N years ago but is mainstream today? What is "wild and crazy" today and might be mainstream in the future?
  - What areas and grand challenges in electronics and electronic systems design are important (for mankind) to solve quickly?
  - If you were going to school again today, what would you study? What do engineering students need to learn that they aren't learning today?
  - For [your region], what are key strategic (economic, governmental, etc.) challenges that semiconductor and electronics industries must solve in the next 5-10 years?
  - In what ways will high-value (consumer, telecommunications, data processing) electronic systems and system design automation capabilities be most different in the year 2020 from where they are today?
  - What disruptive semiconductor technologies do you see on the horizon for initial production during the next 10+ years?
- Here are some additional questions that could be targeted toward EDA industry leaders.
  - The analog and custom portion of chips is growing. What is missing to help speed up the analog design process as we have seen for digital design?
  - Where is consolidation in EDA likely to happen next -- what applications?
  - With company budgets being cut, the resources that any one company can commit to standards organizations is shrinking. What can we do to make standards organizations more productive and to make standards move through the pipeline despite limited resources? Which standards organizations are most vital in the next year?
  - At what point -- revenues, length of time in business, number of customers, etc. -- does perceived risk of a company not remaining viable go away? I.e., if a design team is reluctant to invest in a given technology for fear of lack of future support, upgrades, company being acquired, and so on -- when do they begin to feel confident in using tools from a startup?
Does DAC.com offer any technical writing resources to help me develop my article?
- The editor reviews all material in detail, and typically helps with rewriting, suggested reorganization or rebalancing, etc. as "track changes" to your original draft(s).
- For additional support, you can contact the DAC Publicity Committee directly.