Author's Latest Posts


Design By Architect Or Committee?


Everything we do is based on a language. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about design, verification, specification, software or mask data. They all provide a way to communicate intent, and then there are engines that work on the intent to produce something else that is desirable, also based on a language. Over time, the EDA industry has built up a hierarchy of languages from the most deta... » read more

Patents And EDA Making Waves


If the old adage “may you live in interesting times” is true, then lawyers must be wondering if they should be very happy or scared. The rate at which [getkc id="16" comment="patent"] law, and patents in general, are changing should give everyone pause – including the future competitiveness of the United States and the value of patents to EDA. The World Intellectual Property Organizati... » read more

First Time Success And Cost Control


First time success has been the ultimate goal for semiconductor companies due to escalating mask costs, as well as a guiding objective for the development of EDA tools, especially in the systems and verification space. These pressures are magnified for the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"] (IoT), especially the edge devices. Have system-level tools been able to contribute to first ti... » read more

The Interconnected Web Of Power


Tradeoffs between area and timing used to follow fairly simple rules. You could improve timing by adding area, and occasionally find an architectural solution that would decrease both at the same time. With physical synthesis the relationship became a little more complicated because an increase in area, say to make a drive larger or add another buffer, might upset the layout. That, in turn, cou... » read more

One-To-Many: Shifting Left, Adding Gears


[getperson id="11034" comment="Aart de Geus"], chairman and co-CEO of [getentity id="22035" e_name="Synopsys"], launched into high gear for his keynote talk at this year’s Design and Verification Conference (DVCon). The gathering attracted a record number of attendees, and it is estimated that about 350 people crammed into the room to listen to him talk about the shift left that is happening ... » read more

Biz Talk: Funding Strategies


Michel Courtoy, VP of marketing and business development at Kilopass, and a former member of the M&A group at Cadence , talks with Semiconductor Engineering about EDA startups, where to find funding, how long it takes to get established, and new exit strategies. [youtube vid=RMkuMiqb10M] » read more

Incremental Design Methodologies


There are times when we become stuck in the past, or choose to believe something that is no longer true or actually never was true. As we get older, we are all guilty of that. History tends to rewrite itself, especially given that this industry is aging. One of these situations occurred recently, and comments from an industry luminary didn’t align with the thoughts and memories of other peopl... » read more

First Time Success And Cost Control


First time success has been the ultimate goal for semiconductor companies due to escalating mask costs, as well as a guiding objective for the development of EDA tools, especially in the systems and verification space. These pressures are magnified for the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"] (IoT), especially the edge devices. Have system-level tools been able to contribute to first ti... » read more

Feathers Ruffled By IEEE Patent License Changes


Standards are essential for any market to grow. Products that are completely proprietary tend to serve small niche markets whereas those based on standards can grow through collaborations, independent content creation, and many other ways. Just think about where we would be if there were no communications standards – no WiFi, no cellular standards. You would be locked into buying all of your ... » read more

Who Pays For EDA Shift Left?


While working on the predictions articles for 2015 (markets, design, semiconductors, tools and flows), a number of companies talked about the great shift left that is happening in the industry. What was surprising was the number of companies that mentioned it, and in very different ways. It is clear that shift left does not mean the same thing to all people. While they all see it addressing ... » read more

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