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Scaling Simulation


Without functional simulation the semiconductor industry would not be where it is today, but some people in the industry contend it hasn't received the attention and research it deserves, causing a stagnation in performance. Others disagree, noting that design sizes have increased by orders of magnitude while design times have shrunk, pointing to simulation remaining a suitable tool for the job... » read more

Power Optimization: What’s Next?


Concerns about the power consumed by semiconductors has been on the rise for the past couple of decades, but what can we expect to see coming in terms of analysis and automation from EDA companies, and is the industry ready to make the investment? Ever since Dennard scaling stopped providing automatic power gains by going to a smaller geometry, circa 2006, semiconductors have been increasing... » read more

HBM Takes On A Much Bigger Role


High-bandwidth memory is getting faster and showing up in more designs, but this stacked DRAM technology may play a much bigger role as a gateway for both chiplet-based SoCs and true 3D designs. HBM increasingly is being viewed as a way of pushing heterogenous distributed processing to a completely different level. Once viewed as an expensive technology that only could be utilized in the hig... » read more

Standards, Open Source, and Tools


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering discussed what open source verification means today and what it should evolve into with Jean-Marie Brunet, senior director for the Emulation Division at Siemens EDA; Ashish Darbari, CEO of Axiomise; Simon Davidmann, CEO of Imperas Software; Serge Leef, program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office at DARPA; Tao Liu, staff hardware engineer... » read more

Roadblocks For ML in EDA


Is EDA a suitable space for utilizing machine learning (ML)? The answer depends on a number of factors, including where exactly it is being applied, how much support there is from the industry, and whether there are demonstrable advantages. Exactly where ML will play a role has yet to be decided. Replacing existing heuristics with machine learning, for example, would require an industry-wide... » read more

New Methodologies Create New Opportunities


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss what open source verification means today and what it should evolve into, with Jean-Marie Brunet, senior director for the Emulation Division at Siemens EDA; Ashish Darbari, CEO of Axiomise; Simon Davidmann, CEO of Imperas Software; Serge Leef, program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office at DARPA; Tao Liu, staff hardwa... » read more

Technology Access Discriminates


I try not to get on a soap box in my blogs, but I hope you will allow me to express a concern that I see building and the projection of an unintended outcome. I am talking about who does and does not have access to technology. Over time, this divide can cause a further division based on geography, income level, or some other factor. The ramifications of it are not realized until it is too late.... » read more

Merging Verification And Test


While the disciplines of functional verification and test serve different purposes, their histories were once closely intertwined. Recent safety and security monitoring requirements coupled with capabilities being embedded into devices is bringing them closer together again, but can they successfully cooperate to bring about improvements in both? Getting there may be difficult. Three phases ... » read more

Many Chiplet Challenges Ahead


Over the past couple of months, Semiconductor Engineering has looked into several aspects of 2.5D and 3D system design, the emerging standards and steps that the industry is taking to make this more broadly adopted. This final article focuses on the potential problems and what remains to be addressed before the technology becomes sustainable to the mass market. Advanced packaging is seen as ... » read more

Interconnects In A Domain-Specific World


Moving data around is probably the least interesting aspect of system design, but it is one of three legs that defines the key performance indicators (KPI) for a system. Computation, memory, and interconnect all need to be balanced. Otherwise, resources are wasted and performance is lost. The problem is that the interconnect is rarely seen as a contributor to system functionality. It is seen... » read more

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