Design THINGS for the Internet of Things — An EDA perspective

According to a recent article contributed by about a dozen high-profile EDA experts, "the consensus is that in many aspects EDA is ready to provide tools required for loT implementation" [1]. It is true that most of the THINGS in IoT do not need the most cutting edge technology and EDA tools may be ahead of the game. However, designing THINGS for IoT is not just about functionality, size, weight, speed, power, and time to market. It has a unique set of requirements that have not been considered during the development of today's EDA tools and design flow. In this paper, we study the challenges facing EDA community in designing THINGS for trust, security, privacy, and ultra-low power. We will also discuss how EDA and hardware can help to build better THINGS in terms of these criteria.