Data Management Position: An Automated Approach to Intelligent PCB Design Data Management


The design cycle of electronic devices produces vast amounts of data. From a top-level view, this data can be broken down into basic blocks, including software, circuit board design, mechanical design, and others. These blocks contain extensive and complex information, including the types and amounts of individual data and information files, as well as their hierarchy structure. This data and i... » read more

Blog Review: May 4


In a podcast, Arm's Geof Wheelwright chats with Steve Furber of the University of Manchester and Christian Mayr of Technische Universität Dresden about spiking neural networks and the SpiNNaker project to build a platform for realistic real-time models of brain functions. Synopsys' Licinio Sousa checks out how the MIPI protocol enables the connectivity needed for sensor fusion and increasin... » read more

CEO Outlook: Chip Industry 2022


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss broad industry changes and how that affects chip design with Anirudh Devgan, president and CEO of Cadence; Joseph Sawicki, executive vice president of Siemens EDA; Niels Faché, vice president and general manager at Keysight; Simon Segars, advisor at Arm; and Aki Fujimura, chairman and CEO of D2S. This discussion was held in front of a live audience... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Arm unveiled the Arm Cortex-M85 processor and expanded Arm Virtual Hardware to more platforms, including 3rd party devices. The Cortex-M85 is the highest performance Cortex-M processor to date, with 30% scalar performance uplift compared to the Cortex-M7, technology to support endpoint ML and DSP workloads, and includes Pointer Authentication and Branch Target Identification (PACBTI), a new arc... » read more

Electronics And Sustainability: Can Smart Engineering Save The Planet?


We just celebrated Earth Day 2022 with great fanfare. In discussions with my favorite Gen Z family member, I sense genuine concerns that sustainability goals seem like a tall order. Let’s review the contributions the electronics industry can make to sustainability. First, defining sustainability seems to lead to three main pillars—environmental, social, and economic sustainability. I fou... » read more

Choosing Which Tasks To Optimize In Chips


The optimization of one or more tasks is an important aspect of every SoC created, but with so many options now on the table it is often unclear which is best. Just a few years ago, most people were happy to buy processors from the likes of Intel, AMD and Nvidia, and IP cores from Arm. Some even wanted the extensibility that came from IP cores like Tensilica and ARC. Then, in 2018, John Henn... » read more

The Challenges Of Incremental Verification


Verification consumes more time and resources than design, and yet little headway is being made to optimize it. The reasons are complex, and there are more questions than there are answers. For example, what is the minimum verification required to gain confidence in a design change? How can you minimize the cost of finding out that the change was bad, or that it had unintended consequences? ... » read more

Big Changes In Embedded Software


Every good hardware or software design starts with a structured approach throughout the design cycle, but as chip architectures and applications begin focusing on specific domains and include some version of AI, that structure is becoming more difficult to define. Embedded software, which in the past was written for very narrow functions with a minimal footprint, is increasingly getting blended... » read more

Advances In EM Analysis And Design Flows For RF System Development


With the move toward higher frequencies and component densities, RF/mixed signal PCB systems and heterogeneous system-in-package (SiP) technologies are increasingly susceptible to delayed product development turnaround times that threaten delivery schedules. These delays often occur late in development during integration when components that met the design specifications fail to achieve the req... » read more

Blog Review: April 27


Siemens' Joseph Dailey and Jake Wiltgen dispel misunderstandings around safety qualification of software tools and point to some of the safety issues that could lead to schedule delays and additional costs. Synopsys' Mark Kahan explains the testing that went into creating parts of the James Webb Space Telescope and key questions that were asked to ensure the mission could be successful even ... » read more

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