Practical Processor Verification


Custom processors are making a resurgence, spurred on by the early success of the RISC-V ISA and the ecosystem that is rapidly building around it. But this shift is amid questions about whether processor verification has become a lost art. Years ago custom processors were common. But as the market consolidated around a handful of companies, so did the tools and expertise needed to develop th... » read more

Using Processor Trace At The System Level


The race to process more data faster using less power is creating a series of debug challenges at the system level, where developers need to be able to trace interactions across multiple and often heterogeneous processing elements that may function independently of each other. In general, trace is a hardware debug feature that allows the run-time behavior of IP to be monitored. More specific... » read more

Re-Imagining The GPU


John Rayfield, CTO at Imagination Technologies, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about RISC-V, AI, and computing architectures. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What your plans are for RISC-V? Rayfield: We're actively finalizing the integration of RISC-V cores into future-generation GPUs. That work has been going on for several months. Moving forward, we'... » read more

Blog Review: April 22


Mentor's Shivani Joshi takes a look at the benefits of adding ground planes in PCB design to improve signal integrity and reduce electrical noise and interference. Cadence's Paul McLellan points to the gradual adoption of 3D packaged systems, the role of mobile in driving adoption, and the rise of chiplets. Synopsys' Taylor Armerding shares some tips for productive remote teamwork from th... » read more

Security From The Ground Up


Silicon and system design are complex and costly enough in the ultra-deep sub-micron era. Now factor in security. Virtually every end application requires some level of security, and, as the cybersecurity threat rises, the importance and value of trust and assurance rises as well. This is even more evident in “high-security” use cases such as smart cards used to enter buildings, SIM card... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Si2 launched an industry-wide survey to identify planned usage and structural gaps for prioritizing and implementing artificial intelligence and machine learning in EDA. A recently formed Si2 Special Interest Group is conducting the survey as part of an effort to identify where industry collaboration will help eliminate deficiencies caused by a lack of common languages, data models, labels, and... » read more

Big Changes In Tiny Interconnects


One of the fundamental components of a semiconductor, the interconnect, is undergoing radical changes as chips scale below 7nm. Some of the most pronounced shifts are occurring at the lowest metal layers. As more and smaller transistors are packed onto a die, and as more data is processed and moved both on and off a chip or across a package, the materials used to make those interconnects, th... » read more

Power Becomes Bigger Concern For Embedded Processors


Power is emerging as the dominant concern for embedded processors even in applications where performance is billed as the top design criteria. This is happening regardless of the end application or the process node. In some high-performance applications, power density and thermal dissipation can limit how fast a processor can run. This is compounded by concerns about cyber and physical secur... » read more

Blog Review: April 15


Mentor's Neil Johnson argues that it's time to reevaluate the current definition of verification methodology, with a new focus on methodologies driven by the needs of the design and best suited to different abstractions. Synopsys' Derek Handova warns that the need to manage the security risks of billions of IoT devices will continue to change the requirements and scope of 5G security. Cad... » read more

Covid-19 Tech Bits: April 14


Modeling coronavirus spread Four teams of Finnish researchers have modeled the coughing spread of COVID-19 in tight indoor areas, such as grocery stores and public transportation systems, using a supercomputer and 3D visualization. “The aerosol cloud spreads outside the immediate vicinity of the coughing person and dilutes in the process," said Aalto University Assistant Professor Ville V... » read more

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