The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Tools Aldec updated its emulation and simulation acceleration software package for high speed prototyping boards, adding a SCE-MI Pipes-based flow for streaming large amounts of data, and a 30% speed increase for all emulation modes. Plus, Aldec's mixed-language FPGA design and simulation platform now includes a complete coverage analysis package for FPGA and ASIC designers with the addition... » read more

Running Out Of Energy?


The anticipated and growing energy requirements for future computing needs will hit a wall in the next 24 years if the current trajectory is correct. At that point, the world will not produce enough energy for all of the devices that are expected to be drawing power. A report issued by the Semiconductor Industry Association and Semiconductor Research Corp., bases its conclusions on system-le... » read more

Blog Review: March 16


A bacterium that chows down on plastic could be a boon to reducing our huge piles of plastic waste, in this week's top five tech picks from Ansys' Bill Vandermark. Plus, silicon photonics got one step closer, keeping an eye on new neurons, and getting around with magnets. Can semiconductors be open sourced? Rambus' Aharon Etengoff considers what that would take, the potential impact on the I... » read more

IP Risk Sharing


For most people within the semiconductor industry, managing risk involves making the right product decisions that will enable a company to be profitable, and ensuring the product is successfully produced within the necessary time window. In contrast, for products within high-risk areas such as medical and mil/aero, design often proceeds at a slower pace, using proven technologies and adopting l... » read more

Mixed-Signal Design Powers Ahead


Mixed-signal devices are at the heart of many advanced systems today because of the need to interact with the outside world, but designing and verifying these systems is getting harder. There are several reasons for this. First, almost all of these devices now have to be lower power than in the past, and in the analog space it's not as simple as just dialing down part of a block. Second, it ... » read more

Verification Facing Unique Inflection Point


The Design and Verification Conference and Exhibition (DVCon) attracted more than 1,100 people to San Jose last week, just slightly less than last year. While a lot of focus, and most of the glory, goes to design within semiconductor companies, it is verification where most of the advancements are happening and thus the bigger focus for DVCon. The rate of change in verification and the producti... » read more

How Many Cores? (Part 1)


The optimal number of processor cores in chip designs is becoming less obvious, in part due to new design and architectural options that make it harder to draw clear comparisons, and in part because just throwing more cores at a problem does not guarantee better performance. This is hardly a new problem, but it does have a sizable list of new permutations and variables—right-sized heteroge... » read more

Enabling Self-Driving Cars


To enable truly self-driving cars — the ones without a gearshift or a steering wheel — there must be a confluence of technologies, a refinement of the business models, regulatory and safety requirements, and insurance concerns. So how close is the automotive ecosystem to reaching the goal of truly autonomous driving? That depends on your vantage point. As far as where automakers are t... » read more

Blog Review: March 9


The world's largest floating solar farm will soon be complete – an array of 23,000 solar panels on a reservoir outside London. Also in this week's top five picks by Ansys' Justin Nescott, watching sharks from the sky is a drone's latest task, plus making music with a marble machine. Synopsys' Graham Etchells continues his series with a look at electromigration and its impacts on the FinFET... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Mergers & Acquisitions Synopsys acquired WinterLogic, provider of fault simulation tools used in automotive, safety and security environments for the design and verification of advanced SoCs. In announcing the deal, Synopsys highlighted fault simulation as key for ISO 26262 compliance testing. Terms were not disclosed. IP & IoT Mentor Graphics unveiled the first entirely native... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →