category: Editor’s Note

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

Not So Fast
By Ed Sperling - 01 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor engineering has always been about taking two steps forward and one step back. Or, if you’re more cynical, you don’t really move at all. You just get better at what you do. The cynical approach is that nothing is really new because it’s all been done before. In effect, 2.5D packages are multi-chip modules with a better business case and more advanced versions of what exist... » read more

Need To Know Basis
By Ed Sperling - 16 Jun, 2011 - Comments: 0

There’s a great and often over-used line out of movie scripts when the hero stumbles upon something that doesn’t make sense and he’s told, “That’s on a need-to-know basis.” The same seems to be true in low-power engineering. While everyone talks about the need for reducing the power inside of chips, the reality is that only the really advanced SoC and processor companies are taki... » read more

DAC Retrospective
By Ed Sperling - 10 Jun, 2011 - Comments: 0

The question I repeatedly get asked at DAC is, “How was the show?” And then, frequently, it’s followed by monologue about just how much traffic has shrunk over the years. It’s true there are fewer startups than in the past, and maybe some of the tradeshow floor buzz is gone. But in my humble opinion, that misses the point. DAC, first and foremost, is a conference. The tradeshow part... » read more

Power For The Masses
By Ed Sperling - 27 May, 2011 - Comments: 0

At 90nm, current leakage was something design teams had to consider seriously for the first time. At 65nm, they had to start thinking about various power modes. At 45nm, they had to begin seriously working on new processes, new structures, new verification approaches and a slew of proximity effects they had always assumed were someone else’s problem. At 28nm and beyond, the problem is movi... » read more

Managing The Path Of Least Resistance
By Ed Sperling - 12 May, 2011 - Comments: 0

One of the great lessons of physics is that the natural order of things is the path of least resistance. Liquid flows to the lowest spot unless restrained by some sort of dam. Electrons flow through the channel with the least resistance and the highest conductivity. There are a couple of twists in the low-power engineering space, however, that can be classified as supra-natural. One is that ... » read more

The Copernican Theory Of Computing
By Ed Sperling - 29 Apr, 2011 - Comments: 0

The most powerful computer on the planet isn’t sitting in some research center being cooled by liquid nitrogen. It’s sitting in your pocket or on your desktop—or at least a piece of it is. We’ve all been brainwashed into thinking that it’s important to own the most powerful computing device you can get your hands on. Latency, after all, is annoying. Somewhere over the past couple o... » read more

Redefining Mobile
By Ed Sperling - 22 Apr, 2011 - Comments: 0

Mobile devices traditionally have been defined by their power source. In the future, they will likely be defined by where data is processed, which has enormous implications for designs. The good news for many of these devices is that the work on battery-power devices will pave the way for greater efficiency in those with a plug, allowing much more intelligent decisions about tradeoffs betwee... » read more

Changing The Flow Of Technology
By Ed Sperling - 19 Apr, 2011 - Comments: 0

A mad scramble is underway—quietly, of course, because it involves competitive positioning—to prepare for stacked die. No one wants to be left out of this transition, regardless of whether they’ve branded it as pure fiction in the past. And no one wants to be caught unprepared, even though they’re not sure exactly when this shift will take place. But what’s particularly interesting... » read more

The Power Blues
By Ed Sperling - 14 Apr, 2011 - Comments: 0

When it comes to power in SoC designs, most engineers will agree that the easy stuff is already done. What’s interesting, though, is they’ve been saying that for several process nodes, and the complaint has been roughly the same no matter what node they’re actually working at. It’s as true today for engineers working at 180nm with analog chips as at 28nm with the latest digital process ... » read more

A Collateral Shade of Green
By Ed Sperling - 08 Apr, 2011 - Comments: 0

Cloud-based computing is hardly a new concept. It’s been around since the 1960s, when it was known as time-sharing. The repackaged version, along with commercial outsourcing, has been talked about in the EDA industry for the better part of a decade. What’s different, though, is that the original concept was for software as a service, or SAAS, whereby full tools would be available online ... » read more

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