Computer Aided (CA) Tools Integration and Related Standards Development in a Multi-Vendor Universe

Today´s CA tools are not self-contained. The development of a concept from engineering to final product requires a variety of specialized tools. In order to connect these different vendor tools (large and small) at the applications level, integration capability is necessary. True integration can only be accomplished with the development of standards in the areas of hardware description languages, interchange formats, graphics, data structures and data management, and communications. Many of these standards are starting to be used and misused, understood and misunderstood. The need to know about the origin and purpose of some of the major standards developed, or being developed, is necessary. Questions as to how they will support integration and at what cost need to be answered.