Requirements For Exhaustive SoC Reset Domain Crossing Checks


It is common to read that the numbers of clock domains and power domains in system-on-chip (SoC) designs are increasing, but for some reason there is less discussion about resets. There is no doubt that the number of reset domains is also rising; studies have shown that the single reset of twenty years ago has been replaced by a complex network of 40-50 domains in many chips and even 150 in som... » read more

Many Chiplet Challenges Ahead


Over the past couple of months, Semiconductor Engineering has looked into several aspects of 2.5D and 3D system design, the emerging standards and steps that the industry is taking to make this more broadly adopted. This final article focuses on the potential problems and what remains to be addressed before the technology becomes sustainable to the mass market. Advanced packaging is seen as ... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools & IP Cadence debuted the Palladium Z2 Enterprise Emulation and Protium X2 Enterprise Prototyping systems. The Palladium Z2 is based on a new custom emulation processor, while the Protium X2 is based on Xilinx UltraScale+ VU19P FPGAs. Designed to work together with a common front-end flow, they provide 2X capacity and 1.5X performance improvements over the previous generations, and ne... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Pervasive computing — IoT, edge, cloud, data center, and back LG Electronics says it is closing its mobile business unit to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services. The company will continue to update some premium phones after it leaves th... » read more

Interconnects In A Domain-Specific World


Moving data around is probably the least interesting aspect of system design, but it is one of three legs that defines the key performance indicators (KPI) for a system. Computation, memory, and interconnect all need to be balanced. Otherwise, resources are wasted and performance is lost. The problem is that the interconnect is rarely seen as a contributor to system functionality. It is seen... » read more

Meeting Fundamental Interface Requirements For Camera And Display With Integrated MIPI IP


Cameras and displays are used in cars, industrial and medical devices, smartphones and other mobile devices, and machine vision applications. Over the years, the required data for high resolution videos and images have increased, forcing camera and display SoCs to process more complex visual data. The MIPI Alliance offers a portfolio of camera and display interfaces that deliver differentiation... » read more

More Data Drives Focus On IC Energy Efficiency


Computing workloads are becoming increasingly interdependent, raising the complexity level for chip architects as they work out exactly where that computing should be done and how to optimize it for shrinking energy margins. At a fundamental level, there is now more data to compute and more urgency in getting results. This situation has forced a rethinking of how much data should be moved, w... » read more

Blog Review: April 7


Cadence's Paul McLellan checks out the US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence report and what it recommends for funding the development of AI as well as semiconductor manufacturing and research. Siemens EDA's Ray Salemi continues exploring Python for verification and shows how to use cocotb to create a simple bus functional model and connect it to a testbench. Synopsys... » read more

AI In Inspection, Metrology, And Test


AI/ML is creeping into multiple processes within the fab and packaging houses, although not necessarily for the purpose it was originally intended. The chip industry is just beginning to learn where AI makes sense and where it doesn't. In general, AI works best as a tool in the hands of someone with deep domain expertise. AI can do certain things well, particularly when it comes to pattern m... » read more

Sharing Secure Chip Data For Analytics


New approaches and standards are being developed to securely share manufacturing and test data across the supply chain, moves that have long been considered critical to the reliability of end devices and faster time to yield and profitability. It will take time before these methods become widespread in the IC supply chain. But there is increasing agreement these kinds of measures are essenti... » read more

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