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Brian Bailey

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Brian Bailey is Technology Editor/EDA for Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Aging Problems At 5nm And Below
By Brian Bailey - 11 Jun, 2020 - Comments: 3

The mechanisms that cause aging in semiconductors have been known for a long time, but the concept did not concern most people because the expected lifetime of parts was far longer than their intended deployment in the field. In a short period of time, all of that has changed. As device geometries have become smaller, the issue has become more significant. At 5nm, it becomes an essential par... » read more

Configuring Processors In The Field
By Brian Bailey - 08 Jun, 2020 - Comments: 0

The convergence of two technologies, extensible processors and embedded FPGAs, is enabling the creation of processors that can be dynamically configured in the field. But it's not clear if there is a need for them or how difficult would it be to program them. This remains an open question even though there is evidence of its usefulness in the past and new products are expected to reach the mark... » read more

(Artificially) Intelligent Verification
By Brian Bailey - 01 Jun, 2020 - Comments: 1

Functional verification produces a lot of data, , but does that make it suitable for Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML)? Experts weigh in about where and how AI can help and what the industry could do to improve the benefits. "It's not necessarily the quantity," says Harry Foster, chief scientist for verification at Mentor, a Siemens Business. "It's the quality that matter... » read more

Constrained Innovation
By Brian Bailey - 28 May, 2020 - Comments: 6

The semiconductor industry has long been seen as a risk-averse industry and that is probably to be expected. The rapid migration of technology nodes (lots of innovation happening there) produced a rapid expansion in transistor counts that stretched development teams to their limits. Every design had to contain more functionality while dealing with a plethora of new concerns, and be developed by... » read more

What’s So Important About Processor Extensibility?
By Brian Bailey - 28 May, 2020 - Comments: 1

While the ability to extend a processor is nothing new, market dynamics are forcing a growing percentage of the industry to consider it a necessary part of their product innovation. From small IoT functions to massive data centers and artificial intelligence, the need to create an optimized processing platform is often the only way to get more performance or lower power out of the silicon area ... » read more

Low-Power Analog
By Brian Bailey - 14 May, 2020 - Comments: 3

Analog circuitry is usually a small part of a large SoC, but it does not scale in the same way as digital circuitry under Moore's Law. The power consumed by analog is becoming an increasing concern, especially for battery-operated devices. At the same time, little automation is available to help analog designers reduce consumption. "Newer consumer devices, like smartphones and wearables, alo... » read more

Inevitable Bugs
By Brian Bailey - 29 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 3

Are bug escapes inevitable? That was the fundamental question that Oski Technology recently put to a group of industry experts. The participants are primarily simulation experts who, in many cases, help direct the verification directions for some of the largest systems companies. In order to promote free discussion, all comments have been anonymized, distilling the primary thoughts of the parti... » read more

The Meaning Of Verification
By Brian Bailey - 27 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 1

When I ask the question "Why do we do verification?" there are generally two types of responses. One of them sees the glass as half empty and the other as half full. It depends upon how you look at the problem and if you see verification as being a positive or negative operation. The negative answer is that we do verification to find bugs. This relies on the mechanical function of creating v... » read more

Practical Processor Verification
By Brian Bailey - 23 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Custom processors are making a resurgence, spurred on by the early success of the RISC-V ISA and the ecosystem that is rapidly building around it. But this shift is amid questions about whether processor verification has become a lost art. Years ago custom processors were common. But as the market consolidated around a handful of companies, so did the tools and expertise needed to develop th... » read more

Power-Hungry Safety And Security
By Brian Bailey - 09 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

There is a price to pay for everything. When it comes to adding safety and security into a device, the costs in terms of power and area can be significant, but if the task is taken seriously, those costs can be managed and minimized. New analysis and implementation tools are coming to market that can also help to keep the costs contained. But it also requires the right mindset. As more indus... » read more

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