What Comes After Moore’s Law And Dennard Scaling?


For decades, Moore’s Law has been an important semiconductor industry mainstay that has helped fuel a relentless progression in computing performance. However, most industry experts agree that Moore’s Law is waning, with an end on the horizon due to a combination of physical limitations and economic factors. With the loss of Dennard Scaling roughly 10 years ago, the industry is at a critica... » read more

Design Convergence For 7nm Chips Needs Big Data-Driven Multi-Physics Optimization


Advancements in silicon process technologies are enabling companies to deliver products with faster performance, lower power and greater functionality. These benefits are especially attractive for chip manufacturers servicing markets such as high-end mobile and enterprise computing. However, the cost in terms of both dollars and resources associated with bringing 7-nanometer (nm) finFET-based s... » read more

Verification Of Low-Power Designs With Portable Stimulus


In a recent blog post, Steve Carlson talked about the use of software-driven tests to support concurrent power and performance analysis. Generation of software-driven tests is one of the key technologies that will be enabled by the upcoming standard from Accellera's Portable Stimulus Working Group (PSWG). Portable stimulus spans functional verification as well as performance validation, so PSWG... » read more

Five Ways To Avoid Being The Next IoT Security Headline


Whether it is the remote hacking of cars or the rise of the IoT botnet we have all read the scary headlines: security for the IoT is a growing issue. But how exactly do you stop your company and your product appearing on the front page, as part of the latest security violation story? Security in IoT is more than just the processor, it requires an approach that protects the entire system and all... » read more

Ensure Robust Encryption With CAVP Validation For FIPS 140-2 Conformance


Cryptographic algorithms are mathematical procedures used to implement security protocols in today’s devices and communication infrastructure. Designers must validate their cryptographic algorithm implementations through certification by regulatory bodies, such as Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to ensure accuracy ... » read more

7nm Design Success Starts With Multi-Domain Multi-Physics Analysis


Companies can benefit from advancements in the latest semiconductor process technology by delivering smaller, faster and lower power products, especially for those servicing mobile, high performance computing and automotive ADAS applications. By using 7nm processes, design teams are able to add a lot more functionality onto a single chip and lower the power consumption by scaling operating volt... » read more

7nm Power Issues And Solutions


Being able to achieve 35% speed improvement, 65% power reduction and 3.3X higher density makes adopting a 7nm process for your next system-on-chip (SoC) design seem like an easy decision. However, with $271 million in estimated total design cost and 500 man-years it would take to bring a mid-range 7nm SoC to production, companies need to carefully weigh the benefits against the cost of designin... » read more

Architecting For Energy


Most of the time, electrical design engineers create their designs by putting in the functions first, then going back later to figure out what they can afford to shut down. But with energy harvesting, this is flipped, and the systems must be built to normally be ‘off,’ and with a clear understanding of the minimum power requirements. Also, most of the time, energy harvesting systems are ... » read more

Faster SerDes For More Efficient Data Centers


The evolving data center presents an imposing set of challenges for system architects as Dennard Scaling fades and Moore’s Law wanes. These include an exponential increase in data, shifting architectural bottlenecks and a never-ending demand for higher performance within the same power and thermal envelopes. The Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analytics, in-memory computing and machine ... » read more

What’s The Real Benefit Of High-Level Synthesis?


Once upon a time, “behavioral synthesis,” the precursor to high-level synthesis, hung its hat on design productivity as its sole value. By that, I mean, if a behavioral synthesis tool provides a high enough productivity benefit, designers or design managers will boil the ocean to move to it. There was little methodology around it. In fact, even the design entry language was unfamiliar. Yes,... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →