Beyond 22nm


Gary Patton, VP at IBM's semiconductor R&D Center, talks with System-Level Design about the challenges of developing chips all the way down to 15nm. [youtube vid=2wTj3EvRIRw]   » read more

The Growing Legacy Of Moore’s Law


By Ed Sperling Moore’s Law has defined semiconductor design since it was introduced in 1965, but increasingly it also has begun defining the manufacturing equipment, the cooling needed for end devices, and both the heat and performance of systems. In the equipment sector the big problem has been the delay in rolling out extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Moore’s Law will require tighter spacing... » read more

Building Up In 3D


By Ed Sperling Stacked die are expected to begin showing up in volume in late 2012 and in 2013, turning what has been a science experiment into a mainstream way of designing and manufacturing SoCs. This magnitude of this shift cannot be overstated, and clearly all of the pieces are not in place to make it all happen immediately. There also are significant technology challenges to overcome, ... » read more

ARM Vs. Intel


Simon Segars, ARM's executive vice president and general manager of the company's physical IP group, talks about the war with Intel and which markets it's likely to affect. [youtube vid=EISi5qpY77M] » read more

ARM’s Race


Prior to the Synopsys acquisition of Virage Logic, Synopsys seemed to have an almost exclusive relationship with ARM. Since then, Cadence and Mentor Graphics have both been cutting deals with ARM for support of its IP cores. What’s changed? With regard to the Virage Logic acquisition, very little. Synopsys did acquire the ARC processor through that deal, but ARC had been much more focused ... » read more

How Software Utilizes Cores


By Ann Steffora Mutschler When writing software, how does the design engineer determine how much power it will draw on a particular targeted platform? While the question seems straightforward, the answer is not. The industry is just starting to develop the ability to get some data in that space, according to Cary Chin, director of technical marketing for Synopsys’ low-power solutions gr... » read more

Making Software More Efficient


By Ed Sperling Software is being targeted by most of the major chip vendors and EDA companies as the next big opportunity for saving power, but exactly which software should be modified and by whom isn’t always clear. To some extent those answers depend upon which part of the software stack vendors or engineers believe can be adjusted most easily, and so far there is no widespread agreeme... » read more

Experts At The Table: Timing Constraints


By Ed Sperling Low-Power Engineering sat down to discuss timing constraints with ARM Fellow David Flynn; Robert Hoogenstryd, director of marketing for design analysis and signoff at Synopsys; Michael Carrell, product marketing for front end design at Cadence; Ron Craig, senior marketing manager at Atrenta; and Himanshu Bhatnagar, executive director of VLSI design at Mindspeed Technologies. Wh... » read more

The Future Of 3D Stacking


By Ed Sperling Despite concerns about the lack of tools, an unstable process, questionable interconnects, thermal overloads and electrostatic discharge, 3D stacking appears to be making headway. At the very least, lots of companies of all sizes are betting heavily that it will succeed. The first wave, which is expected to start showing up late next year, will likely come from a handful of t... » read more

Experts At The Table: Timing Constraints


By Ed Sperling Low-Power Engineering sat down to discuss timing constraints with ARM Fellow David Flynn; Robert Hoogenstryd, director of marketing for design analysis and signoff at Synopsys; Michael Carrell, product marketing for front end design at Cadence; Ron Craig, senior marketing manager at Atrenta; and Himanshu Bhatnagar, executive director of VLSI design at Mindspeed Technologies. Wha... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →