The country's newly elected president has promised government support for high-tech firms and a more commercially favorable setting. One area which is already enabling it to raise its position in the semiconductor hierarchy is programmable logic. With FPGAs becoming more gate-packed, operating speeds increasing, and voltages being lowered, signal-integrity issues are becoming a serious concern. The simple debug tools that FPGA vendors supply, or proprietary software packages, are no longer up to the job. Aldec-ADT, operating out of Katwice, manufactures software for enhanced verification of such devices. Its Active-HDL is an integrated environment for creating designs with the help of VHDL and SystemC. It can pick out glitches then pinpoint the section of code that these relate to, thus allowing necessary alterations to be done rapidly. Microtech develops electronic hardware and software for signalprocessing systems used in military/aerospace applications. Its highperformance products exhibit resistance to harsh conditions, as well as automatic testing and fault diagnosis. Use of IP core technology is offered for linking hardware, algorithms and software within the FPGA, resulting in faster, more flexible systems being produced. A portfolio of demo-boards based on Spartan II devices give designers a platform on which cores, ASIC prototyping, and other implementations can be tested.Gliwice-based Evatronix, which was established by two professors from the Silesian University of Technology, is a peddler of soft cores aimed at enabling engineering teams to cut time-to-market for SoC designs. This IP, for microcontrollers and media processors, as well as Ethernet, USB and FireWire functions, is supplied with VHDL or Verilog-HDL source code, or post-synthesis net-lists. Firm versions of cores for both Altera and Xilinx devices can also be provided, allowing designers to secure quicker turnaround times. Access to an enviably well-educated workforce, with one of thehe highest proportions of graduates in Europe - thanks to strong academic resources - combined with lower salaries, have clearly played their part. Another attraction is the fact that while it is a cheaper option than alternatives in the West, Poland is not plagued by the piracy issues that places like China or India can present. The only thing likely to hold back its progression is a limited experience of capitalist culture; the country must show it can adequately deliver on its potential.
