Demystifying Mixed-Signal Simulation For Digital Verification Engineers


The convergence of analog and digital technologies on a single chip, commonly referred to as mixed-signal, has reshaped the integrated circuit (IC) landscape. In recent years, mixed-signal designs have emerged as the dominant technology, therefore requiring traditional analog and digital methodologies to be enhanced. A mixed-signal design offers many advantages, including boosted performance, r... » read more

Use Tcl To Save Signals More Efficiently In AMS Simulations


Saving signal waveforms during a simulation is one of the basic ways to check the simulation results. However, with large SoC designs, it’s not always practical to save all signals during simulation, and the simulation performance might also be impacted by the number of signals being saved. Therefore, a crucial part of the simulation setup is to specify the expected and essential signals to s... » read more

Electro-Thermal Design Breakthrough


Electronic component manufacturers have traditionally provided models in SPICE format, so customers can simulate their application circuits and better understand the features, capabilities, and interactions of those parts in the system context. Now, with BCI ROM, a similar and parallel thermal model supply chain can develop. This technology breakthrough arrives at a time of component design-in ... » read more

A Hierarchical And Tractable Mixed-Signal Verification Methodology For First-Generation Analog AI Processors


Artificial intelligence (AI) is now the key driving force behind advances in information technology, big data and the internet of things (IoT). It is a technology that is developing at a rapid pace, particularly when it comes to the field of deep learning. Researchers are continually creating new variants of deep learning that expand the capabilities of machine learning. But building systems th... » read more

Extending The Benefits Of UVM To Include AMS: An Update On Accellera’s UVM-AMS Standard Development


By Tom Fitzpatrick and Peter Grove SoC teams can be divided up into design and verification groups. For digital designs, the Universal Verification Methodology (UVM), initially developed by Accellera and now standardized as IEEE 1800.2, has been the industry standard for the past decade. Since most SoC designs also have analog and mixed-signal IP blocks, it would be ideal for verification en... » read more

Improving Design Collaboration In The Age Of Remote Work


Teams of analog and mixed signal (AMS) design and layout engineers spend countless hours extracting every ounce of performance out of their design. They continually make incremental changes daily to the design until the very end, as close to tape out as possible. Each change made to the design requires corresponding changes to the circuit layout. As technology advances, accounting for the paras... » read more

Algorithm HW Framework That Minimizes Accuracy Degradation, Data Movement, And Energy Consumption Of DNN Accelerators (Georgia Tech)


This new research paper titled "An Algorithm-Hardware Co-design Framework to Overcome Imperfections of Mixed-signal DNN Accelerators" was published by researchers at Georgia Tech. According to the paper's abstract, "In recent years, processing in memory (PIM) based mixed-signal designs have been proposed as energy- and area-efficient solutions with ultra high throughput to accelerate DNN com... » read more

Auto Chipmakers Dig Down To 10ppb


How do engineers deliver 10 defective parts per billion (Dppb) to auto makers if they only screen 1 million parts per year? Answer: By comprehending failure mechanisms and proactively screening for them. Modern automobiles contain nearly 1,000 ICs that must perform over the vehicle’s life (15 years). This drives quality expectations ever higher. While 10 Dppm used to be a solid benchmark, ... » read more

Holistic FMEDA-Driven Safety Design And Verification For Analog, Digital, And Mixed-Signal Design


With state-of-the-art electronics propelling the automotive industry into the future, automotive OEMs require safety-certified semiconductors. The integration of these advanced technologies into cars drives a need for component suppliers to assess and audit the risk of the technologies they want to deploy. At the same time, safety requirements are constantly evolving and becoming more stringent... » read more

Anti-Tamper Benefits Of Encrypted Helper-Data Images For PUFs


PUFs are mixed-signal circuits which rely on variations unique to a specific chip to self-generate a digital “fingerprint.” Most PUFs require a “helper-data” image that is generated during the initial digitization process, also known as Enrollment. Leveraging the chip-unique transformation function of PUFs and encrypted helper data, an unclonable challenge-response mechanism can be impl... » read more

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