The Quest To Better Define Applications


By Ed Sperling For nearly five decades, just being able to get software to run on hardware and communicate with other systems was considered a feat of engineering. But with that part of the technology solved well enough, the next big challenge is to make sure that applications can run as efficiently as possible to maximize performance, minimize power consumption and limit the area required to ... » read more

Connecting System-Level Flows To Implementation Tools


By Ann Steffora Mutschler With the complexity explosion occurring in SoC design today, there is a relentless force to push design decisions further up in terms of abstraction. Resolving issues at the gate level is not possible any more because there just isn’t enough time or resources. Further, the resulting design may not even be competitive because optimization at the gate level can leave ... » read more

Tailoring IP, Tools And Flows


By Ann Steffora Mutschler As SoC and system complexity rises continually and software drives much more in a system, specific vertical application areas will require tailored IP and tool flows to allow designers to meet time-to-market demands. Today, many systems are designed around a platform, which contains most of the STAR IP—processors, GPUs, memory controllers, interconnects, memory s... » read more

The Quest To Better Define Applications


By Ed Sperling For nearly five decades, just being able to get software to run on hardware and communicate with other systems was considered a feat of engineering. But with that part of the technology solved well enough, the next big challenge is to make sure that applications can run as efficiently as possible to maximize performance, minimize power consumption and limit the area required to ... » read more

Connecting System-Level Flows To Implementation Tools


By Ann Steffora Mutschler With the complexity explosion occurring in SoC design today, there is a relentless force to push design decisions further up in terms of abstraction. Resolving issues at the gate level is not possible any more because there just isn’t enough time or resources. Further, the resulting design may not even be competitive because optimization at the gate level can leave ... » read more

Tailoring IP, Tools And Flows


By Ann Steffora Mutschler As SoC and system complexity rises continually and software drives much more in a system, specific vertical application areas will require tailored IP and tool flows to allow designers to meet time-to-market demands. Today, many systems are designed around a platform, which contains most of the STAR IP—processors, GPUs, memory controllers, interconnects, memory s... » read more

Missing The Point


By Kurt Shuler A couple months ago a professor researching in my company’s technology space asked me, “Why doesn’t industry use our research?” I thought for a few seconds, then looked him in the eye: “Because much of it is off target.” My friend was taken aback for a second, but to his credit he wanted to know why I thought that. I explained that I recently read an articl... » read more

Supply Chain Adjusts To Design At The System Level


By Ann Steffora Mutschler System-level design is impacting the supply chain at many levels. Software suppliers, IP providers, semiconductor companies, system integrators and OEMs are challenged to work ever more closely together and find a new balance of power for who controls what in the content of an SoC. “We see more and more the design chain driving how our tools work together,” Fra... » read more

Version Control Nightmares


By Ed Sperling The rampant re-use of IP and the growing reliance on software to smooth over glitches is creating a nightmare in version control of everything from IP blocks to EDA tools. Version control has always been a problem in SoC design, of course. Tools have to be in sync with engineering teams that are spread across multiple continents and working on different pieces of the design e... » read more

System-Level Technology Conversations Shift To Deployment


While much has been achieved to define a system-level design flow, more is still needed. Technology goals vary depending on the perspective of tool providers in terms of what needs to be done to realize the promise of a streamlined tool flow from TLM 2.0 down to GDS II. To many, 2011 will be an interesting year in the system-level design space as conversations with customers have shifted. �... » read more

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