Formally Verifying Data-Oblivious Behavior In HW Using Standard Property Checking Techniques


A technical paper titled “A Scalable Formal Verification Methodology for Data-Oblivious Hardware” was published by researchers at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau and Stanford University. Abstract: "The importance of preventing microarchitectural timing side channels in security-critical applications has surged in recent years. Constant-time programming has emerged as a best-practice technique... » read more

Hardware Platform For Evolving Robots


A technical paper titled “Practical hardware for evolvable robots” was published by researchers at University of York, Edinburgh Napier University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of the West of England, and University of Sunderland. Abstract: "The evolutionary robotics field offers the possibility of autonomously generating robots that are adapted to desired tasks by iteratively... » read more

A Hierarchical Instruction Cache Tailored To Ultra-Low-Power Tightly-Coupled Processor Clusters


A technical paper titled “Scalable Hierarchical Instruction Cache for Ultra-Low-Power Processors Clusters” was published by researchers at University of Bologna, ETH Zurich, and GreenWaves Technologies. Abstract: "High Performance and Energy Efficiency are critical requirements for Internet of Things (IoT) end-nodes. Exploiting tightly-coupled clusters of programmable processors (CMPs) ha... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Gregory Haley, Jesse Allen, and Liz Allan TSMC told equipment vendors to delay deliveries of the most advanced tools due to uncertain demand, according to Reuters. The news drove down stock prices of all the major equipment providers. On the other hand, TSMC said advanced packaging shortages will constrain AI chip shipments for the next 18 months, according to NikkeiAsia. The United St... » read more

High-Quality Silicon With Cloud-Based Verification


New materials, vertically stacked architectures, and angstrom-level process technologies—the complexity of today’s SoCs continues to grow to meet the needs of demanding applications such as AI, autonomous vehicles, and high-performance computing. This trend only places greater pressure on verification, already notorious for being a significant bottleneck in chip development. Design teams... » read more

Reliability On The Rise In IC Design


Reliability has been an important factor in the semiconductor industry for decades. A closer look reveals three main priorities: In the area of technology development and optimization, the microscopic mechanisms that lead to degradation must be identified and understood before they can be fixed. Microanalytical methods are used here as well as TCAD simulations. If it’s not possible to... » read more

Using Virtual Metal Fill To Predict The Impact Of High Level Nets


A recent blog post discussed the use of virtual metal fill (VMF) to predict the effects of real metal fill when performing RC extraction on a chip layout. This enables static timing analysis (STA) closely correlated with final post-fill results without incurring the time to perform the actual metal fill insertion during the layout-STA loop. VMF is fast enough to be run in every iteration of thi... » read more

Patterns And Issues In AI Chip Design


AI is becoming more than a talking point for chip and system design, taking on increasingly complex tasks that are now competitive requirements in many markets. But the inclusion of AI, along with its machine learning and deep learning subcategories, also has injected widespread confusion and uncertainty into every aspect of electronics. This is partly due to the fact that it touches so many... » read more

No Hot Products


While marketers strive to launch the next “hot” product, engineers struggle to prevent literally hot products! A recent breakthrough in thermal modeling comes just in time as electronic component manufacturers and their OEM customers increasingly battle thermal design issues. Analog electronic component manufacturers have traditionally provided models in SPICE format so customers can sim... » read more

Unlocking Efficiency: The Power Of IP Blocks In Silicon Chip Design


The fastest, most efficient and cost-effective way to design silicon is by leveraging intellectual property (IP) blocks. This methodology reduces risk, allows a design team to focus on its own differentiation, and allows scalability. Re-using existing IP offers even more value for design teams. But not every company has embraced the approach. Here’s why you should consider it. To optimize ... » read more

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