Bridging The Gap Between Smart Cities And Autonomous Vehicles


Smart city planners and carmakers are wrestling with similar problems and goals, but they are working at very different paces and often with different technologies — despite the fact that these two worlds will need to be bridged in order to be useful. Moving traffic optimally in urban areas is critical for reducing energy consumption and accidents, and for moving emergency vehicles through... » read more

Startup Funding: January 2021


Over $800M in funding went to companies developing autonomous driving technology, from self-driving-focused AI chips to full vehicles and aftermarket solutions. A couple electric vehicle manufacturers stood out this month, with investors putting large backing behind US-based Rivian and China-based Leapmotor. And with EVs come lots of batteries: funding went to a few startups trying out new batt... » read more

Automotive Functional Safety Compliance In EDA Tools And IP


By Swami Venkat and Meirav Nitzan A modern vehicle can boast as many as 100 million lines of code—that’s more than the Large Hadron Collider (50 million lines) and Facebook (62 million lines). On the hardware side, many of today’s cars have upwards of 100 electronic control units (ECUs) to run various functions. As automotive engineering ingenuity continues to drive further innovation ... » read more

Big Changes In Verification


Verification is undergoing fundamental change as chips become increasingly complex, heterogeneous, and integrated into larger systems. Tools, methodologies, and the mindset of verification engineers themselves are all shifting to adapt to these new designs, although with so many moving pieces this isn't always so easy to comprehend. Ferreting out bugs in a design now requires a multi-faceted... » read more

Hyperscaling The 21st Century Engineer


While January is the month of predictions for many, I have made it a habit to look back and see how previous forward-looking assessments have worked out. It is fascinating to see how many past predictions were off and how little has changed in some areas. Twenty years ago, in January 2001, the front cover of IEEE Spectrum set the theme of ubiquitous connectivity in an always-on world. Some o... » read more

The Good, Bad And Unknowns Of Flexible Devices


Flexible hybrid electronics are beginning to proliferate in consumer, medical, and industrial applications due to their comparatively low weight, thin profile, and the ability to literally bend the rules of design. Open any smart phone today and you're likely to find one or more of these flexible boards. Unlike standard printed circuit boards, FHE devices are printed using a combination of r... » read more

Fearless Chip Forecasts For 2021


It’s been a roller coaster ride in the semiconductor industry. In early 2020, the semiconductor business looked bright, but then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, causing a sudden downturn. By mid-2020, though, the market bounced back, as the stay-at-home economy drove demand for computers, tablets and TVs. The chip market ended on a high note in 2020, but the question is, what’s in store fo... » read more

A Look Inside ADAS Modules


You glance down at your phone while rolling in slow-moving traffic. Against your better judgment, you proceed to read your latest email, oblivious to the fact that the car in front of you has braked. In the nick of time, your car starts beeping and flashing. You look up and slam the brakes. Whew! That was close. If this has happened to you, don't forget to thank the radar and camera modules in ... » read more

Hidden Costs In Faster, Low-Power AI Systems


Chipmakers are building orders of magnitude better performance and energy efficiency into smart devices, but to achieve those goals they also are making tradeoffs that will have far-reaching, long-lasting, and in some cases unknown impacts. Much of this activity is a direct result of pushing intelligence out to the edge, where it is needed to process, sort, and manage massive increases in da... » read more

Improving Automotive Electronic Hardware With SAE J3168


By Theresa Duncan and Craig Hillman The race is on for fully autonomous vehicles. Industry giants like Tesla, Google, Uber and almost all major automotive companies are competing to deliver state-of-the-art self-driving vehicles. However, the development of new, cutting-edge technologies demands a similar wave of reliability, repairability and warranty standards that automotive manufactur... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →