The Problem With Benchmarks


Benchmarks long have been used to compare products, but what makes a good benchmark and who should be trusted with their creation? The answer to those questions is more difficult than it may appear on the surface, and some benchmarks are being used in surprising ways. Everyone loves a simple, clear benchmark, but that is only possible when the selection criteria are equally simple. Unfortuna... » read more

Optimizing Power Supply


Any electrical engineer knows providing power to your board is a key feature in PCB design. While most boards can be functional, their true quality shines when the perfect level of power to components is achieved. Building and designing better power supplies is the best way to ensure the end-product has full life-cycle potential. But how do we ensure we can convert a (potentially variable) i... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Security Microsoft and Synopsys are working together on a secure cloud-based chip development environment for United States Department of Defense’s Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes (RAMP) program. “Through this integration on the RAMP program, Synopsys' trusted design, verification and silicon IP solutions will be available in Microsoft Azure," said Mujtaba Hamid, head of Silicon ... » read more

Longer Chip Lifecycles Increase Security Threat


The longer chips and electronic systems remain in use, the more they will need to be refreshed with software and firmware updates. That creates a whole new level of security risks, ranging from over-the-air intercepts to compromised supply chains. These problems have been escalating as more devices are connected to the Internet and to each other, but it's particularly worrisome when it invol... » read more

Edge-Inference Architectures Proliferate


First part of two parts. The second part will dive into basic architectural characteristics. The last year has seen a vast array of announcements of new machine-learning (ML) architectures for edge inference. Unburdened by the need to support training, but tasked with low latency, the devices exhibit extremely varied approaches to ML inference. “Architecture is changing both in the comp... » read more

Hot Or Not? An Introduction To Electrical Thermal Co-Design


Heat transfer is not a one-way street. Traditionally, thermal analysis and management is thought of as a mechanical problem. However, modern electronic products are highly susceptible to electronic thermal issues. The electronics are often both the cause of thermal issues and the victim of overheating if temperature profiles exceed specifications. Indeed, over 50% of IC failures are related ... » read more

5G NR Design eMBB


Next-generation 5G/6G communication systems will provide massive connectivity to the internet with extreme capacity, coverage, reliability, and ultra-low latency, enabling a wide range of new services made possible through innovative technologies. Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) extends the current mobile experience with high data throughput on the order of more than 10Gbps, high system capaci... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive/Mobility Former U.S. president Donald Trump pardoned the former Google engineer who plead guilty to taking Google’s self-driving car trade secrets before becoming the head of Uber Technologies’ self-driving car unit. Anthony Levandowski was sentenced 18 months in prison in August after pleading guilty in March to one count of a 33-charge indictment, according to a story in Reute... » read more

Von Neumann Is Struggling


In an era dominated by machine learning, the von Neumann architecture is struggling to stay relevant. The world has changed from being control-centric to one that is data-centric, pushing processor architectures to evolve. Venture money is flooding into domain-specific architectures (DSA), but traditional processors also are evolving. For many markets, they continue to provide an effective s... » read more

Die-To-Die Stress Becomes A Major Issue


Stress is becoming more critical to identify and plan for at advanced nodes and in advanced packages, where a simple mismatch can impact performance, power, and the reliability of a device throughout its projected lifetime. In the past, the chip, package, and board in a system generally were designed separately and connected through interfaces from the die to the package, and from the packag... » read more

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