Author's Latest Posts


Will 5G Enable Connected Cars?


As the telecom, automotive and semiconductor ecosystems rally to develop solutions for next-generation mobile networks for the connected car, 5G technology has emerged as a strong contender. Fifth-generation mobile networks will enable data transmission rates of more than 10Gps, connecting machines to machines, as well as everything else, including smartphones, IoT devices that require a... » read more

Moore’s Law Debate Continues


Does shrinking devices still make sense from a cost and performance perspective? The answer isn’t so simple anymore. Still, the discussion as to whether semiconductors are still on track with [getkc id="74" comment="Moore's Law"] occurs on a frequent enough basis to continue analyzing at least some of the dynamics at play. There is much speculation about what happens after 7nm, as well as ... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 1


There is a lurking malice in cloud hosting services A team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Indiana University Bloomington, and the University of California Santa Barbara has found — as part of a study of 20 major cloud hosting services — that as many as 10 percent of the repositories hosted by them had been compromised, with several hundred of the ‘buckets’ act... » read more

Too Big To Simulate?


With system design complexity set on a steady upward trajectory, there are situations in which traditional simulation just can’t keep up. The alternative—and one being used by Google, Uber, Ford, GM, Volvo, Audi and others with autonomous vehicles— is to test cars on the road and collect data for later analysis. “They're not simulating, they're just doing it all in the real world ... » read more

System Bits: Oct. 25


Scalable quantum computers In what they say is a significant step towards to the realization of a scalable quantum computer, researchers from the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo led the development of a new extensible wiring technique capable of controlling superconducting quantum bits. The quantum socket is a wiring method that uses 3D based on spring-lo... » read more

Closing The Power Integrity Gap


Voltage drop has always been a significant challenge. As far back as 130nm, specialist tools were being used to ensure that enough local decoupling capacitance (decap) cells were inserted in addition to larger decaps implemented around the SoC. But advanced nodes are complicating matters and further increasing complexity. These technological challenges, which underlie the power, performance ... » read more

System Bits: Oct. 18


First quantum computer bridge Quantum computing is closer than we think. For the first time on a single chip, Sandia National Laboratories and Harvard University researchers have shown all the components needed to create a quantum bridge to link quantum computers together by forcefully embedding two silicon atoms in a diamond matrix. Sandia researcher Ryan Camacho pointed out that small qua... » read more

Getting The Power/Performance Ratio Right


Getting to market quickly means determining as soon as possible if a concept for a new design will work or not, particularly where power and performance are concerned. Making this determination requires intimate knowledge of the scenarios in which the device will operate — and that is just the start. In order to set things up, you need to somehow model the system, which could be done in a ... » read more

Rethinking Verification For Cars


New tools, approaches, and methodologies are in various stages of development and deployment under the umbrella of functional safety, as more electronics find their way into cars, medical devices and industrial applications. As shown in part one, verification needs to be rethought for these applications. Underneath the umbrella will be ways of doing negative testing, ways of categorizing, an... » read more

Safety-Critical Chips Have A Premium Verification Cost


While the market opportunities in the automotive space may be exciting, the economics are staggering as consumers demand all kinds of new technologies: low power, safety-critical verification, Internet of Things — and they want it all at an incremental price of zero dollars over the actual value of the product. This can make business decisions about even entering a market a delicate balan... » read more

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