When I Grow Up, I Want To Be A Software Programmer


To keep up with the continuous introduction of new gadgets and capabilities in our smartphones, cars, houses and stores, it is clear that we need more software programmers. That is why multiple companies are coming up with new and innovative ways to introduce people — especially children — to programming. To lure them, the makers of these programming products try to mask the programming asp... » read more

Industry-Shaking Changes Ahead


I’ve been closely following the increasing power of system OEMs (such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft) over players in the semiconductor industry with an eye toward understanding how this will affect others in the semi value chain. However, I haven’t paid as much attention to the root causes of why these changes are occurring. McKinsey & Company has provided our industry food f... » read more

Wanted: Standard Design Constraints


Lately, there has been increasing discussion in the industry about the need for a set of standards that specifically support an interoperable description of intent for analog and custom design, a.k.a. “analog design intent” standards. The driving need for such standardization is to enable far greater exchange of analog intent, with greater formalism and clarity, to greatly improve time-to-... » read more

Key Developments In 2013 And Crystal Ball Predictions For 2014


There were a number of key developments in 2013 that stood out for me that I think would of interest to the Semiconductor Engineering audience:  We are now in the world of 8-core processors. Both the new Xbox One and the Sony PS4 sport 8-core AMD CPUs. And MediaTek has announced the MT6592, the first 8-core cell-phone chip that uses ARM A-7 processors running simultaneously at 2GHz. I know... » read more

Top 5 Trends For 2014


My daughter’s and my traditional yearly cookie baking party last weekend reminded me of two things: There is still no easy recipe for system design and verification and – of course – the year is almost over again. Ouch. Let’s look back at 2013 first. Earlier this year we held a System to Silicon Verification Summit in San Jose, with an interesting technical keynote by Brian Bailey an... » read more

Blog Review: Dec. 18


Cadence’s Brian Fuller looks back at electronics innovation this past year from the perspective of a 2012 event—with a heavy emphasis on going vertical in both chip architectures, transistors and in business. Things are looking up, sort of. Mentor’s Colin Walls finds social media is getting much more interesting. As proof, he’s joined a discussion about embedded C programming and st... » read more

Is There Light At The End Of Moore’s Tunnel?


Last month’s article, “Is There Light At The End Of Moore’s Tunnel,” examined the state of the industry in terms of integrating photonics components onto silicon. It concentrated on the piece that has been the hardest to achieve – the laser. However, as realizing that integration goal has become closer to reality, it has also waned in terms of the number of people who believe it is th... » read more

Modern IC Packaging


Modern IC packaging technologies, such as 3D-IC, drive the need for IC, package and system co-design tools and methodologies. To download this white paper, click here.  » read more

Accelerating Functional Closure


This paper focuses on practical aspects of the verification process that can help reduce the time taken to reach functional closure. It is based on experiences of working directly with many leading edge semiconductor companies implementing modern verification technologies and methodologies. Since coverage is a measure of how effectively the design is being verified, this paper will address when... » read more

Solutions For Mixed-Signal SoC Verification Using Real Number Models


As old methods fall short, new techniques make advanced SoC verification possible. This paper presents mixed-signal block and IC-level verification methodologies using analog behavioral modeling and combined analog and digital solvers. It then describes analog real number modeling (RNM) and how it is used in top-level SoC verification. To view this white paper, click here. » read more

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