Adapting To Evolving IC Requirements


As chip designs become increasingly heterogeneous and domain-specific, packing a device with one-size-fits-all chips or chiplets doesn't make sense. The key is rightsizing different components based on real workloads, so they don't waste power when there is too little utilization of logic, and so they don't struggle to complete tasks because they are undersized. Jayson Bethurem, vice president ... » read more

Sensor Fusion Challenges In Automotive


The number of sensors in automobiles is growing rapidly alongside new safety features and increasing levels of autonomy. The challenge is integrating them in a way that makes sense, because these sensors are optimized for different types of data, sometimes with different resolution requirements even for the same type of data, and frequently with very different latency, power consumption, and re... » read more

Rethinking Chip Economics


As process nodes shrink, so does the selection of chips developed at those nodes. Consumers demand more features and functionality, but that carries a high price tag in terms of both complexity and real dollars. In addition, because costs are skyrocketing, there is growing pressure for those chips to remain reliable and up-to-date for longer periods of time. Jayson Bethurem, vice president of m... » read more

Changes And Challenges In Auto MCUs


Microcontrollers have been a key component in automotive for years, starting with single-core devices with limited on-chip memory for very basic functions, and evolving toward multi-core systems with more memory for more complex tasks. But as vehicles become increasingly automated, microcontrollers are changing significantly, and so is the perception of how to utilize them. These new devices ne... » read more

How To Stop Row Hammer Attacks


Row hammer is a well-publicized target for cyberattacks on DRAM, and there have been attempts to stop these attacks in DDR4 and DDR5, but with mixed results. The problem is that as density increases, distance decreases, making it more likely that flipped bit cell in one row can disturb a bit cell in another, and that bits flipped across an entire row can flip another row. Steven Woo, fellow and... » read more

What’s Changing In DRAM


More data requires more processing and more storage, because that data needs to be stored somewhere. What’s changing is that it’s no longer just about SRAM and DRAM. Today, multiple types of DRAM are used in the same devices, each with its own set of tradeoffs. C.S. Lin, marketing executive at Winbond, talks about the potential problems that causes, including mismatches in latency, and high... » read more

Designing Chips For Outer Space


If designing chips in cars sounds difficult, try designing them for space. There are huge temperature swings, and more radioactive particles than on Earth, which can cause single-event upsets, transients, functional interrupts, and latch-ups. A destructive latch-up can ruin a device, and in space that could transform an expensive piece of hardware into space junk. Ian Land, senior director for ... » read more

Die-To-Die Security


Security concerns are growing as more chiplets or die are added into a package. There are more possible attack points, and data is becoming increasingly valuable, which makes a successful attack much more lucrative than in the past. Mike Borza, Synopsys scientist, talks about the impact of heterogeneous integration on security, what the risks are for multi-tenant data centers, and what happens ... » read more

Tradeoffs In DSP Design


More intelligence is now required in the front-, mid-, and back-haul for 5G/6G communication, requiring a mix of high performance, low power, and enough flexibility to accommodate constantly changing protocols and algorithms. One solution to these conflicting goals involves reconfigurable DSPs, in which the processing element is hardwired like an ASIC but still configurable for a variety of app... » read more

New Approaches To Sensors And Sensing


Sensors are becoming more intelligent, more complex, and much more useful. They are being integrated with other sensors in sensor fusion, so a smart doorbell may only wake up when it’s imperative to see who’s at the door, and a microphone may only send alerts when there are cries for help or sounds of glass breaking. Kim Lee, senior director of system applications engineering at Infineon, t... » read more

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