Design For Context And Its Impact On EDA


At the recent CEO panel, Ed Sperling used the term “Design for Context” as one of the key trends, identifying what others have referred to as “domain specific” or “workload specific.” The term struck a chord with me, as I see it in many customer meetings across various industry verticals in the context of a specific industry driving requirements for tools and IP. Undoubtedly, semico... » read more

Electronics And Sustainability: Can Smart Engineering Save The Planet?


We just celebrated Earth Day 2022 with great fanfare. In discussions with my favorite Gen Z family member, I sense genuine concerns that sustainability goals seem like a tall order. Let’s review the contributions the electronics industry can make to sustainability. First, defining sustainability seems to lead to three main pillars—environmental, social, and economic sustainability. I fou... » read more

Autonomous Design Automation: How Far Are We?


The year is 2009, during the Design Automation Conference (DAC) at a press dinner in a posh little restaurant in San Francisco’s Civic Center. About two glasses of red wine in, one of the journalists challenges the table: “So, how far away are we from the black box that we feed with our design requirements and it produces the design that we send to the foundry?” We discussed all the indus... » read more

Are Sustainability And Safety Gen Z’s Top Requirements In 2031?


This blog is my 125th on the "Frankly Speaking" channel on SemiEngineering. A big thanks to Ed and his team for a great run and for putting up with my musings! I had started work-related blogging back in 2008, more company-specific, and some of these have since then vanished from the internet. Who would have thought! For this anniversary, I am looking forward ten years to 2031 and how generatio... » read more

Three Technologies Enabling The Next Decade Of Hyperconnectivity


As it has become a tradition in my 15 years of blogging, January is a month of both reflection and outlook. At the beginning of 2022, I am excited that key themes from 5 and 10 years ago—3D integration, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and ubiquitous needs for more connectivity driving 4G and 5G networks—clearly have exceeded expectations and forecasts from that time. L... » read more

Sustainability, Ecosystems, And Consumer Requirements In 2022


Last December, my 2021 outlook focused on "industry transformations" across different verticals. I had referenced a lot of the ongoing transformations in hyperscale computing, aerospace/defense, automotive, and healthcare. 2021 didn't disappoint—most of what I discussed further accelerated pace. For instance, pretty much no booth felt complete at the annual Army AUSA event if they were not... » read more

Towards Decarbonization: Keeping Electronics Energy Consumption In Check


The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) roadmap famously said in 2001 that "cost of design is the greatest threat to the continuation of the semiconductor roadmap." For years, the industry followed the ITRS updates on productivity improvements provided by automating design and hardware to counteract the looming design cost. The discussion on decarbonization has some simil... » read more

Functional Safety Across Analog And Digital Domains


The autonomy of vehicles has been all the rage recently. There are different levels of autonomous driving, with level 5 “Full Automation” being the target the industry is working towards, and Level 2 “Partial Automation” and Level 3 “Conditional Automation” being the level at which the automotive sector currently delivers the most technology. The amount of electronics in cars has be... » read more

Microelectronics And The AI Revolution


It is no secret that artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) are critical drivers for growth in electronics, and particularly, for semiconductors. The recent AI Hardware Summit showcased trends in AI/ML, both in enabling and using it in various application domains, including EDA. As part of the summit, Imec had organized a panel on “Advanced Microelectronics Technologies Driving ... » read more

The Top Five Areas For 5G Improvements


A recent article by TECHnalysis's Bob O'Donnell sparked some thoughts about the critical aspects in which 5G faces improvement needs. They include coverage, cost, power, killer applications, and global ecosystems. It will be a fascinating race over the next eight to ten years, and many decisions between the evolution of 5G versus a transition to 6G are much closer than one might think. I’v... » read more

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