Using AI To Speed Up Edge Computing


AI is being designed into a growing number of chips and systems at the edge, where it is being used to speed up the processing of massive amounts of data, and to reduce power by partitioning and prioritization. That, in turn, allows systems to act upon that data more rapidly. Processing data at the edge rather than in the cloud provides a number of well-documented benefits. Because the physi... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools & IP Cadence will acquire Future Facilities, a provider of electronics cooling analysis and energy performance optimization solutions for data center design and operations using physics-based 3D digital twins. Future Facilities’ product portfolio includes an electronics thermal solution, as well as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) electronics cooling simulation technology that op... » read more

Time For FMEDA Reuse?


How do designers quantify safety in electronic systems? Through one or more tables called Failure Modes, Effects and Diagnostic Analysis – FMEDA. In fact, an FMEDA does not have to be a table; it could be manifested in scripts or some other form, but a table is the easiest way to think of this information. Think of an FMEDA for an IP, as the concept extends easily to a system-on-chip (SoC). T... » read more

Which Fuel Will Drive Next-Generation Autos?


With gasoline prices hitting uncomfortable highs, consumers increasingly are looking toward non-gasoline-powered vehicles. But what ultimately will power those vehicles is far from clear. Inside the cabin and under the hood, these vehicles will be filled with semiconductors. Yet what the energy source is for those semiconductors is the subject of ongoing debate. It could be batteries, hydrog... » read more

Why Hardware-Dependent Software Is So Critical


Hardware and software are two sides of the same coin, but they often live in different worlds. In the past, hardware and software rarely were designed together, and many companies and products failed because the total solution was unable to deliver. The big question is whether the industry has learned anything since then. At the very least, there is widespread recognition that hardware-depen... » read more

Traceability Is Not My Problem (Is It?)


What is all the fuss about traceability? If it is that important, should it be handled by a compliance group? Delegating to a separate team would be the preference for most design and verification team members, but it is not possible in this case. Traceability stops short of a big brother organization constantly looking over the shoulders of the development team. The more reasonable approach is... » read more

IP Industry Transformation


The design IP industry is developing an assortment of new options and licensing schemes that could affect everything from how semiconductor companies collaborate to how ICs are designed, packaged, and brought to market. The IP market already has witnessed a sweeping shift from a "design once, use everywhere" approach, to an "architect once, customize everywhere" model, in which IP is highly ... » read more

Automotive Bandwidth Issues Grow As Data Skyrockets


Bandwidth requirements for future vehicles are set to explode as the amount of data moving within vehicles, between vehicles, and between vehicles and infrastructure, continues to grow rapidly. That data will be necessary for a variety of functions, some of which are here today and many of which are still in development. On the safety side, that includes everything from early warning systems... » read more

AI-Powered Verification


With functional verification consuming more time and effort than design, the chip industry is looking at every possible way to make the verification process more effective and more efficient. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are being tested to see how big an impact they can have. While there is progress, it still appears to be just touching the periphery of the problem... » read more

How To Optimize A Processor


Optimizing any system is a multi-layered problem, but when it involves a processor there are at least three levels to consider. Architects must be capable of thinking across these boundaries because the role of each of the layers must be both understood and balanced. The first level of potential optimization is at the system level. For example, how does data come in and out of the processing... » read more

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