Blog Review: Jan. 4


Mentor's Harry Foster wraps up his functional verification study series with a look the impact of verification maturity and safety critical designs on first silicon success. Synopsys' David Benas argues for using the insurance industry as a model in assessing the risk of potential software flaws. Cadence's Tom Anderson shares highlights from the recent International Workshop on Microproce... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


M&A ARM reached further into the HPC space with its acquisition of Allinea Software, a provider of debug and performance analysis tools for HPC systems. Currently, 80% of the world's top 25 supercomputers use Allinea's tools, and ARM will continue supporting multiple processor architectures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PLDA Group is spinning out its QuickPlay C/C++ tool for ... » read more

CEO Outlook: Chip Design 2017


After two consecutive flat to slightly down years, the semiconductor industry is poised for growth in 2017. Cowan this month predicted 4.7% growth in semiconductor sales in 2017, while World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) put that figure at 3.3%. And last month, International Business Strategies (IBS) pegged the number at 4.6%, according to statistics compiled by the Global Semiconduc... » read more

Tools For Heterogeneous System Development


System architects look to both heterogeneous and homogeneous computing when there are no other options available, but the current thinking is that a system-level software methodology could simplify the design, ease integration of various blocks, and potentially improve performance for less power. While the theory appears sound enough, implementing it has turned out to be harder than expected. ... » read more

Reflecting Back On 2016


Anyone can make a prediction, and sometimes the more outlandish they are the more they get noticed. But at the end of the year some people hit the mark while others may have been way off. Many people simply make projections based on the current trajectory of trends, while others look for the potential discontinuities that may lie ahead. Semiconductor Engineering examines the projections made... » read more

Blog Review: Dec. 21


Mentor's Jeff Miller and ARM's Nandan Nayampally contend that it's easier than ever to design custom SoCs. Cadence's Paul McLellan provides a basic primer on silicon photonics, from a presentation by Gilles Lamant. The US Department of Transportation is considering requiring the inclusion of vehicle-to-vehicle communication in new cars, says Synopsys' Robert Vamosi. Applied's Shekar Kr... » read more

The Week In Review: IoT


Tools Google this week updated its Internet of Things platform, releasing a Developer Preview for Android Things, enabling application developers to create IoT devices running on the mobile Android operating system. “We incorporated the feedback from Project Brillo to include familiar tools such as Android Studio, the Android Software Development Kit (SDK), Google Play Services, and Google C... » read more

Blog Review: Dec. 14


What are the technology options for 5nm? Cadence's Paul McLellan highlights an IEDM presentation by An Steegen of Imec. Synopsys' Michael Posner suggests we may not have to live with USB Type-C dongles for very long. Mentor's Craig Armenti presents some of the fundamental best practices and guidelines for rigid-flex PCB design. NXP's Joe Byrne digs into the Mirai botnet attack, arguing... » read more

Chip Advances Play Big Role In Cloud


Semiconductor engineering teams have been collaborating with key players in the data center ecosystem in recent years, resulting in unforeseen and substantial changes in how data centers are architected and built. That includes everything from which boxes, boards, cards and cables go where, to how much it costs to run them. The result is that bedrock communication technology and standards li... » read more

Embedded Software Verification Issues Grow


Embedded software is becoming more critical in managing the power and performance of complex designs, but so far there is no consensus about the best way to approach it—and that's creating problems. Even with safety-critical standards such as DO-178C for aerospace and [gettech id="31076" comment="ISO 26262"] for automotive, different groups of tool providers approach software from differen... » read more

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