The Road To Osmosis


It’s happening. Some may have speculated that, with the acquisition of OneSpin by Siemens, the OneSpin user group meeting, more commonly known as Osmosis, would be formally (pun intended) absorbed into a larger Siemens event. Well, I’m here to tell you that Osmosis is officially on the books and will continue to focus on the specific area of formal verification. The team has been working di... » read more

Using IP-XACT To Solve Design And Verification Problems


As today’s SoC designs grow more complex and time-to-market (TTM) pressures rise, designers are looking for techniques to build and update designs easily. Key elements for addressing these SoC challenges include the incorporation of more commercial IP components, internal design IP reuse, and extensive automation of design and verification activities. Enhanced interoperability and reusability... » read more

More NoC Wisdom


A common experience for anyone promoting a disruptive technology is that prospective customers understand that what is being offered is different. Still, without a familiar reference to compare, they extrapolate expectations unreliably. Sometimes expectations are extrapolated to infinity: “My existing solution has limitations, but the new technology should have no limitations.” Sometimes ex... » read more

3D IC: Opportunities, Challenges, And Solutions


Nearly every big city reaches a point in its evolution when it runs out of open space and starts building vertically. This enables far more apartments, offices and people per square mile, while avoiding the increased infrastructure costs of suburban sprawl. Semiconductors are evolving in much the same way. Moore’s Law is slowing, and adoption of new advanced technology nodes is slowing as wel... » read more

NoC Experiences From The Trenches


Network-on-chip (NoC) interconnect as an alternative to traditional crossbars is already well-proven, but there are still plenty of design teams on the cusp of a transition or who maybe do not yet see a need for a change. As with a switch to any new technology, the first hurdles are often simply misconceptions. When new users first evaluate any new technology, they often make the mistake of att... » read more

Can We Efficiently Automate 2.5/3D IC ESD Protection Verification?


Protection against ESD events (commonly referred to as ESD robustness) is an extremely important aspect of integrated circuit (IC) design and verification, including 2.5/3D designs. ESD events cause severe damage to ICs due to a sudden and unexpected flow of electrical current between two electrically charged objects. This current may be caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric bre... » 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

Why It’s The Perfect Time To Be Part Of The RISC-V Revolution


Eighteen months ago, I said: “The rise of RISC-V offers us a tremendous platform for innovation and collaboration: it has the potential to change the business model of the entire industry.” I stand by that and indeed am demonstrating my conviction by joining the ranks of a company that’s not only changing the industry business model, but is significantly innovating in RISC-V. Having ... » read more

58th DAC Online Program Is Now Live


We did it. After more than a year’s worth of hard work the DAC Executive Committee finally released the 58th DAC program, despite a mountain of challenges and hurdles we encountered along the way this past year. We started planning the 58th DAC a little over a year ago, and we were confronted with a lot of uncertainty on what to expect for the coming year. Would submissions be down? Would ... » 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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