Alternative Text

Ann Mutschler

  (all posts)
Ann Mutschler is senior executive editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Tricky Tradeoffs For LPDDR5
By Ann Mutschler - 30 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

LPDDR5 is slated as the next-gen memory for AI technology, autonomous driving, 5G networks, advanced displays, and leading-edge camera applications, and it is expected to compete with GDDR6 for these applications. But like all next-gen applications, balancing power, performance, and area concerns against new technology options is not straightforward. These are interesting times in the memory... » read more

Optima Design Launches, Focuses On Functional Safety
By Ann Mutschler - 29 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

Autonomous driving is really happening. "Although a concept and dream for many automotive enthusiasts and engineers since the 1950s, now it's really happening," asserted Jamil Mazzawi, founder and CEO of Optima Design, which launched today. “At the same time, everybody knows that if we continue to have accidents, like the Tesla accident or the Uber accident, this will not work. People will... » read more

IP Management And Development At 5/3nm
By Ann Mutschler - 24 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

The growing complexity of moving to new process nodes is making it much more difficult to create, manage and re-use IP. There are more rules, more data to manage, and more potential interactions as density increases, both in planar implementations and in advanced packaging. And the problems only get worse as designs move to 5nm and 3nm, and as more heterogeneous components such as accelerato... » read more

Thomas Dolby’s Very Different View Of Progress
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 4

Thomas Dolby’s hit songs “She Blinded Me with Science” and “Hyperactive!” catapulted him to international fame in the early '80s as a pioneer of New Wave and Electronica by combining a love for invention with a passion for music. The result defined an era of revolutionary music. As record company politics began to overshadow the joy of performing, Dolby turned his attention to Holl... » read more

Using Emulators For Power/Performance Tradeoffs
By Ann Mutschler - 10 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 1

Emulation is becoming the tool of choice for power and performance tradeoffs, scaling to almost unlimited capacity for complex chips used in data centers, AI/ML systems and smart phones. While emulation has long been viewed as an important but expensive asset for chipmakers trying to verify and debug chips, it is now viewed as an essential component for design optimization and analysis much ... » read more

Why EV Battery Design Is So Difficult
By Ann Mutschler - 03 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 4

Automotive batteries always have been treated as plug-and-play parts of a vehicle, but that approach no longer works in electric vehicles. In fact, the battery is now a differentiating factor, and it is the heaviest and most expensive component. What used to be a relatively simple component has been replaced by a variety of sensors to measure complex static thermal and aging effects, as well... » read more

Open ISAs Gaining Traction
By Ann Mutschler - 26 Sep, 2019 - Comments: 0

Open instruction set architectures are starting to gain a foothold, often in combination with other processors, as chipmakers begin to add more specialized compute elements and more flexibility into their designs. There are a number of these open ISAs available today, including Power, MIPS, and RISC-V, and there are a number of permutations and tools available for sale based on those archite... » read more

EDA Revenue Up 6.6% For Q2
By Ann Mutschler - 17 Sep, 2019 - Comments: 0

Highlighted by double digit growth in semiconductor IP and the Asia/Pacific region, EDA industry revenue increased 6.6% for Q2 2019 to $2,472.1 million, compared to $2,318.5 million in Q2 2018, according to the ESD Alliance Market Statistics Service. The four-quarters moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, increased by 6%, which represented a... » read more

FPGA Design Tradeoffs Getting Tougher
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Sep, 2019 - Comments: 0

FPGAs are getting larger, more complex, and significantly harder to verify and debug. In the past, FPGAs were considered a relatively quick and simple way to get to market before committing to the cost and time of developing an ASIC. But today, both FPGAs and eFPGAs are being used in the most demanding applications, including cloud computing, AI, machine learning, and deep learning. In some ... » read more

Trading Off Power And Performance Earlier In Designs
By Ann Mutschler - 12 Sep, 2019 - Comments: 0

Optimizing performance, power and reliability in consumer electronics is an engineering feat that involves a series of tradeoffs based on gathering as much data about the use cases in which a design will operate. Approaches vary widely by market, by domain expertise, and by the established methodologies and perspective of the design teams. As a result, one team may opt for a leading-edge des... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →

  • Sponsors

About

Navigation

Connect With Us

Copyright ©2013-2026 SMG   |  Terms of Service  |  Privacy Policy