Blog Review: Sept. 30

In an increasingly networked world, NXP’s Lars Reger advocates for a change of perspective: one which places data protection and the security of end customers and users at the heart.

Differential power analysis has been on the mind of Rambus’ Aharon Etengoff recently as increasing numbers of SIM cards are being cracked, plus some counter measures that can be used.

Even wondered about the history of DVCon? Gaurav Jalan, this year’s general chair for DVCon India, presents a timeline and talks about the conference’s second year with the highlights of the two day event.

Most innovation these days is not from a lone innovator, but a collaborative effort, says Cadence’s Christine Young. She uses the TSMC open innovation platform as one example.

Continuing with the theme of collaboration, Mentor’s John Day talks about five new collaborations that started just within the past month in the automotive sector, and that may not be all of them.

Many people stay away from FPGA-based prototyping because they fear the time and effort necessary to get it up and running. Synopsys’ Michael Posner talks about recent improvements and tool flows that reduce this to an average of less than two weeks.

In his top technology picks of the week, Ansys’ Justin Nescott goes Silver Surfer style with an electric surfboard. Plus, why Volvo is turning to garbage for the next innovation and why you may never have to deal with a flat tire again.

From drone tracking to a sandwich-making machine, ARM’s Phill Smith features some of his favorite ideas from the floor of Maker Faire New York.

Altaf Carim and Jo Handelsman of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy highlight examples of the sometimes unpredictable and unexpected results of basic research.

Mentor’s Steve Hughes continues his discussion about PCB design constraints that include both electrical as well as physical rules and constraints.

Plus, check out the blogs featured in last week’s System-Level Design newsletter:

Editor In Chief Ed Sperling argues that what will be the next big process node isn’t clear, but it may not matter.

Technology Editor Brian Bailey contends that ESL isn’t a design flow, it’s a verification flow, and it won’t take off until the industry recognizes that distinction.

Sonics’ Randy Smith observes that make vs. buy isn’t as simple a decision as it might appear.

Arteris’ Kurt Shuler takes a deep dive into a complex automotive safety standard.

Cadence’s Frank Schirrmeister questions whether we really need a single executable specification.

Mentor Graphics’ Warren Kurisu looks at what engineering teams can learn from Dr. Who’s time machine.

Synopsys’ Tom De Schutter finds complexity and time-to-market are making software-based SoC design technology a requirement.