category: What Were They Thinking

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

The Danger of Using Patents
By Brian Bailey - 23 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 2

As I have written about recently, [getkc id="30" kc_name="emulation"] is a hot topic for EDA and the number and length of lawsuits related to the technology is almost overwhelming. The latest phase has just concluded with a summary judgment against [getentity id="22035" e_name="Synopsys"] on Jan. 20. It all started in late 2012 when Synopsys, which had just acquired [getentity id="22738" e_nam... » read more

And the Winner is…
By Brian Bailey - 18 Dec, 2014 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering now has its first full year under its belt, and I have to say it has been an incredible year. Not only did we exceed a million page views in our first year, but we also got started on the Knowledge Center, an endeavor the likes of which has never been attempted in our industry. It is still very young and has a lot of growing up to do, but it is a wonderful start. We wo... » read more

Standard Time And The Day Of Two Noons
By Brian Bailey - 20 Nov, 2014 - Comments: 2

Many of you know that I have a kind of fascination with dates, times and the way they have changed over time. Everyone measured time by using the sun 150 years ago, and while this may not have been highly accurate – well, who cared? Farmers got up when the sun rose and did their stuff until the sun set. Most people had no need for time and the idea of a watch would have been..well…untimely.... » read more

A Formally Free Lunch
By Brian Bailey - 05 Nov, 2014 - Comments: 0

I am sure many of you can remember the successful events staged by [getperson id="11679" p_name="Eric Hennenhofer"], founder and CEO of [getentity id="22813" comment="Obsidian Software"]. While neither his name nor that of his company may be on the tip of your tongue, DVClub might ring a few more bells. He started it so that he could have a place to meet fellow engineers while enjoying a free l... » read more

Legal Battlefield In Emulation
By Brian Bailey - 23 Oct, 2014 - Comments: 1

Given the rate of research and development within the EDA industry, you might expect it to be a highly litigious industry, but apart from theft claims, there have not been that many law suits brought to bear – except in the area of [getkc id="30" comment="emulation"]. Emulation has, since its early days in the early 1990s, always been a legal battlefield, and the hostilities continue to this ... » read more

Conferences, Education And The Press
By Brian Bailey - 25 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 1

The EDA industry once organized itself around conferences. The Design Automation Conference (DAC) marked the time of the year when new product announcements came out thick and fast, and it was difficult to keep up with the stream of press releases. Companies with nothing to announce were viewed as deficient. New products were demonstrated in secrecy in the back rooms of the suites at the confer... » read more

EDA Suffering Funding Crisis
By Brian Bailey - 21 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 5

The EDA industry has been built on venture funding ever since its inception in the early eighties and it is no secret that the big three have relied on a steady stream of startup companies to provide some of the new ideas, to test out new technologies and expand the industry. While there is a lot of research and development that goes on inside the large companies, most of this is related to ... » read more

Solving A Problem In Reverse
By Brian Bailey - 24 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

It has been a while since I selected a [getkc id="16" comment="patent"] just because of the humorous side it presents. Today, I will remedy that and talk about a patent that would appear to solve exactly the opposite problem that most people have. It is related to the use of chopsticks. While I am fairly dexterous at using them these days, there was a time when the food would be cold before I h... » read more

Programming Is Not Patentable
By Brian Bailey - 26 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 1

I have written about problems with the [getkc id="16" kc_name="patent"] systems several times in the past and have also talked about a very important case that has been making its way through the courts. This one case, Alice Corp versus CLS, has been particularly closely followed because of the importance of its conclusion on software patents. On June 19 the Supreme Court came to its conclusion... » read more

The Circle Of Test And EDA Is Complete
By Brian Bailey - 22 May, 2014 - Comments: 1

For those of you who were around and involved with EDA back in the early ’80s, you may remember that chip design was not the focus. It was the board that received most of the attention. Chips were small and did not require much in the way of functional verification. [getkc id="29" kc_name="Synthesis"] had not been invented and so gate-level design was where everything happened, and much of th... » read more

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