Blog Review: Feb. 24

Synopsys’ Graham Etchells digs through the toolbox and finds that schematic PCells can be vital in helping layout engineers tackle FinFET complexity.

Cadence’s Paul McLellan looks at two techniques to test the increasing number of digital gates on an automotive chip with only two pins.

In the latest PCB Tech Talk Podcast, Mentor’s John McMillan discusses where collaboration with MCAD fits into a PCB design flow and the evolution of the handoff between MCAD and ECAD.

The series of short videos highlighting transformational technology from the Science Museum in London and ARM continue with Charles Wheatstone’s Cryptograph and the ABC Telegraph.

A single day may seem like a short timetable for a custom drone, but that’s one of the Army’s latest projects, says Ansys’ Justin Nescott in his top five technology picks this week. Plus, controlling prosthetic fingers, detecting suicide bombs, and holograms at the Olympics.

Mentor’s John Day unlocks the latest push by Volvo to make keyless cars and how it could boost car-sharing.

But if you don’t want to carry around a smartphone all the time to unlock it (or are worried about what happens if you lose or phone), NXP’s John McLear suggests an NFC-enabled ring instead.

In the latest Whiteboard Wednesdays video, Cadence’s Sachin Dhingra discusses Automotive Ethernet and how it fits into the four different electronic categories in a vehicle.

Synopsys’ Michael Posner has a quick reminder on the differences between USB Type-C and USB 3.1.

Rambus’ Aharon Etengoff takes a look at Android Pay and the tokenization method of securing it.

Plus, check out the featured blogs in last week’s Manufacturing, Design & Test newsletter:

Editor In Chief Ed Sperling contends that as it becomes harder to reach the next nodes, chipmakers may alter their build vs. buy strategies.

Executive Editor Mark LaPedus discusses DRAM tradeoffs with Cisco’s technical lead.

Mentor Graphics’ David Abercrombie provides a hands-on, how-to guide about options and what can go wrong in patterning.

Semico Research’s Joanne Itow finds tough competition and market conditions continue to plague memory vendors.

Imec’s Marc Heyns argues that 10 years from now, CMOS will seem as old-fashioned as vacuum tubes.

SEMI’s Taylor Sholler questions whether the U.S. will ratify or reject a new trade agreement.