Author's Latest Posts


Designing 5G Chips


5G is the wireless technology of the future, and it’s coming fast. The technology boasts very high-speed data transfer rates, much lower latency than 4G LTE, and the ability to handle significantly higher densities of devices per cell site. In short, it is the best technology for the massive amount of data that will be generated by sensors in cars, IoT devices, and a growing list of next-g... » read more

System Bits: April 17


Smartphone microscopes transformed into lab-grade devices with deep learning UCLA Samueli School of Engineering researchers have demonstrated that deep learning techniques can discern and enhance microscopic details in photos taken by smartphones in order to improve the resolution and color details of smartphone images so much that they approach the quality of images from laboratory-grade mic... » read more

High-Performance Memory Challenges


Designing memories for high-performance applications is becoming far more complex at 7/5nm. There are more factors to consider, more bottlenecks to contend with, and more tradeoffs required to solve them. One of the biggest challenges is the sheer volume of data that needs to be processed for AI, machine learning or deep learning, or even in classic data center server racks. “The design... » read more

System Bits: April 10


Ultrafast laser beam steering for autonomous cars Researchers at Purdue University and Stanford University reported they have found a novel laser light sensing technology that is more robust and less expensive than currently available with a wide range of uses, including a way to guide fully autonomous vehicles. The team said this innovation is orders of magnitude faster than conventional l... » read more

Committing To Automotive


The autonomous driving effort has hit some painful speedbumps lately, with Tesla and Uber feeling the brunt of these. Unfortunately, the recent fatal accidents demonstrate just how challenging it is to get this technology right, and why some in this space have downshifted their efforts to learn from what happened and how to prevent it going forward. This prompted Nvidia to suspend its effort... » read more

New Shifts In Automotive Design


Four big shifts in automotive design and usage are beginning to converge—electrification, increasing connectivity, autonomous driving and car sharing—creating a ripple effect across the automotive electronics supply chain. Over the past few years the electronic content of cars and other vehicles has surged, with electrical systems replacing traditional mechanical and electro-mechanical s... » read more

EDA: 8 Consecutive Years Of Growth


The Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance Market Statistics Service (MSS) reported today that revenue for Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry increased 10.7 percent for Q4 2017 to $2718.6 million, compared to $2455 million in Q4 2016. The four-quarters moving average was up by 9.5 percent. This compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters. "It was a terrific qu... » read more

System Bits: April 3


Investigating the human brain for quantum computation potential While much has been made of quantum computing processes using ultracold atoms and ions, superconducting junctions and defects in diamonds, researchers are questioning if this could be performed in human brains. In fact, UC Santa Barbara theoretical physicist Matthew Fisher has been asking this question for years. And now as scient... » read more

How To Choose The Right Memory


When it comes to designing memory, there is no such thing as one size fits all. And given the long list of memory types and usage scenarios, system architects must be absolutely clear on the system requirements for their application. A first decision is whether or not to put the memory on the logic die as part of the SoC, or keep it as off-chip memory. "The tradeoff between latency and th... » read more

Going Deep Or Broad With Formal?


Whether to apply [getkc id="33" comment="formal verification"] technology to semiconductor design broadly or deeply is a tough question. It hinges on what is the best way to achieve maximum ROI. Do you want to identify hard to find bugs, and get a certain level of confidence about a block? Where should the effort be placed? Is it by going deep, meaning a team of specialists or experts must b... » read more

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