The Week In Review: Design


IP Synopsys unveiled High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) IP. The package includes PHY, controller and verification IP and supports data rates up to 2400Mb/s, 20% faster than the JEDEC standard specification. The controller supports pseudo-channel operation in either lock step or memory interleaved mode, and the PHY offers four trained power management states and fast frequency switching. Cadence... » read more

The Secret Life Of Accelerators


Accelerator chips increasingly are providing the performance boost that device scaling once provided, changing basic assumptions about how data moves within an electronic system and where it should be processed. To the outside world, little appears to have changed. But beneath the glossy exterior, and almost always hidden from view, accelerator chips are becoming an integral part of most des... » read more

Blog Review: July 26


Mentor's Dan Driscoll digs into designing for safety and security on the Xilinx UltraScale+ MPSoC and the different mechanisms that support subsystem isolation. Cadence's Paul McLellan listens in on a talk by Bosch's Volkmar Denner on the future of communications and AI in connected autos. Synopsys' Robert Vamosi points to a recently-discovered vulnerability that could be present in thous... » read more

Blog Review: July 19


Synopsys' Prishkrit Abrol provides a detailed explanation of how the USB Type-C connector works. Mentor's Ricardo Anguiano examines how the RISC-V ecosystem is expanding and latest developments in the open source toolchain. Cadence's Gopi Krishnamurthy explains the lane margining requirements of the PCIe 4.0 specification. ARM's Chet Babla unravels some claims about Narrowband IoT, Cat... » read more

What Does An IoT Chip Look Like?


By Ed Sperling and Jeff Dorsch Internet of Things chip design sounds like a simple topic on the face of it. Look deeper, though, and it becomes clear there is no single IoT, and certainly no type of chip that will work across the ever-expanding number of applications and markets that collectively make up the IoT. Included under this umbrella term are sensors, various types of processors, ... » read more

Memory Buffer Chips: Satisfying Amdahl’s Law To Sustain Moore’s Law


Moore’s Law, the observation that the available transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years, has driven the semiconductor and IT industries to unparalleled growth over the last 50+ years. These transistors have been used in CPUs to increase the number of parallel execution units and instruction fetches, expand the levels of on-chip cache (and overall capacity), support spe... » read more

Blog Review: July 12


Mentor's Puneet Sinha points to five big engineering stumbling blocks in building commercially-viable autonomous vehicles. Synopsys' Anders Nordstrom checks out some exotic applications of formal verification. Cadence's Paul McLellan listens in on a talk by Cadence's Michelle (Xuehong) Mao on how the company's deep neural network, CactusNet, works for optimizing network architecture. S... » read more

IoT Security? Let Them Eat Cake!


Often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the now famous phrase “let them eat cake” (qu'ils mangent de la brioche) is typically used to highlight one’s lack of understanding of a serious issue. This attitude is particularly noticeable in the world of IoT security. Everyone acknowledges that the clear majority of IoT devices are vulnerable and easily compromised, as many lack even the most ... » read more

IoT Startups Rake In Cash


Corporate and venture investors are still eagerly backing Internet of Things startups, with more than $850 million committed during the first six months of 2017. This year’s total may not reach the heights of 2014, when investors put more than $5 billion into IoT startups, or 2016, which saw IoT firms receiving about $4.75 billion, the Venture Scanner website estimates. Still, a once white... » read more

5 Reasons Retailers Should Have Their Own Digital Wallet


As online and mobile commerce channels continue to expand, retailers are being forced to re-evaluate their offering and approach. Retailers must now find new and powerful ways to engage with consumers. Payments are increasingly being identified not just as a necessary process to be managed, but as an opportunity. Topics covered include: Security and risk Transaction fees Experienc... » read more

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