Data Center Architectures In Flux

By Ann Mutschler - 24 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

Data center architectures are becoming increasingly customized and heterogeneous, shifting from processors made by a single vendor to a mix of processors and accelerators made by multiple vendors — including system companies' own design teams. Hyperscaler data centers have been migrating toward increasingly heterogeneous architectures for the past half decade or so, spurred by the rising c... » read more

Why RISC-V Is Succeeding

By Brian Bailey - 24 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 5

There is no disputing the excitement surround the introduction of the RISC-V processor architecture. Yet while many have called it a harbinger of a much broader open-source hardware movement, the reasons behind its success are not obvious, and the implications for an expansion of more open-source cores is far from certain. “The adoption of RISC-V as the preferred architecture for many sili... » read more

Does EDA Sell Fear?

By Brian Bailey - 24 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 3

I worked in the EDA industry for over 30 years and a common lament I heard was that the EDA industry survived by selling fear. Your new chip will fail if you do not buy the latest tool offering. There always seemed to be a natural dislike for the EDA industry and many users thought the industry overcharged and was unable to innovate. I never quite understood the reasoning. A recent comment, ... » read more

Preparing For 3D-ICs

By Ed Sperling - 16 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 1

Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the changes in design tools and methodologies needed for 3D-ICs, with Sooyong Kim, director and product specialist for 3D-IC at Ansys; Kenneth Larsen, product marketing director at Synopsys; Tony Mastroianni, advanced packaging solutions director at Siemens EDA; and Vinay Patwardhan, product management group director at Cadence... » read more

The Indispensables: The Diverse Electronic System Design Ecosystem

By Bob Smith - 15 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

My summer of 2021 reading included a book called “The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware” by Patrick K. O'Donnell. The book told the thrilling and largely forgotten history of the fishermen from Marblehead, Mass., a town 20 miles north of Boston, and their critical role in the Revolutionary War. M... » read more

Improving PPA In Complex Designs With AI

By John Koon - 14 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

The goal of chip design always has been to optimize power, performance, and area (PPA), but results can vary greatly even with the best tools and highly experienced engineering teams. Optimizing PPA involves a growing number of tradeoffs that can vary by application, by availability of IP and other components, as well as the familiarity of engineers with different tools and methodologies. Fo... » read more

Spreadsheets: Still Valuable, But More Limited

By Brian Bailey - 10 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 1

Spreadsheets have been an invaluable engineering tool for many aspects of semiconductor design and verification, but their inability to handle complexity is squeezing them out of an increasing number of applications. This is raising questions about whether they still have a role, and if so, how large that role will be. There are two sides to this issue. On one side are the users who see them... » read more

Design Challenges Increasing For Mixed-Die Packages

By Ann Mutschler - 09 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

The entire semiconductor ecosystem is starting to tackle a long list of technology and business changes that will be needed to continue scaling beyond Moore's Law, making heterogeneous combinations of die easier, cheaper, and more predictable. There are a number of benefits to mixing die and putting them together in a modular way. From a design standpoint, this approach provides access to th... » read more

RF/Microwave EDA Software Design Flow Considerations For PA MMIC Design

By Cadence - 09 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

In this white paper, a gallium arsenide (GaAs) pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) power amplifier (PA) design approach is examined from a systems perspective. It highlights the design flow and its essential features for most PA design projects by illustrating a simple Class A GaAs pHEMT monolithic microwave IC (MMIC) PA design using Cadence AWR Microwave Office circuit desi... » read more

A New Dimension Of Complexity For IC Design

By Ann Mutschler - 27 Jan, 2022 - Comments: 0

Full 3D designs involving logic-on-logic are still in the tire-kicking stage, but gaps in the tooling already are showing up. This is especially evident with static timing analysis (STA), which is used to validate a design’s timing performance by checking all possible paths for timing violations. STA issues began popping up particularly with the introduction of hybrid bonding, a bumpless p... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
Entities, people and technologies explored

Shift Left Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

A transformative change is underway for semiconductor design and EDA. New languages, models, and abstractions will need to be created.

by Brian Bailey

Partitioning In The Chiplet Era

Understanding how chiplets interact under different workloads is critical to ensuring signal integrity and optimal performance in heterogeneous designs.

by Ann Mutschler

3.5D: The Great Compromise

Pros and cons of a middle-ground chiplet assembly that combines 2.5D and 3D-IC.

by Ed Sperling

AI’s Role In Chip Design Widens, Drawing In New Startups

Focus is on letting engineers do much more with the same or fewer resources — and less drudgery.

by Karen Heyman

Key Technologies To Extend EUV To 14 Angstroms

Alongside high-NA EUV will be better-performing photoresists, reduced roughness using passivation and etch, and lateral etching to reduce tip-to-tip dimensions.

by Laura Peters

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets

The standard for high-bandwidth memory limits design freedom at many levels, but that is required for interoperability. What freedoms can be taken from other functions to make chiplets possible?

by Brian Bailey

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

by The SE Staff

Why Small Fab And Assembly Houses Are Thriving

Megafabs churning out the most advanced processors are not the only game in town.

by Bryon Moyer

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