EDA’s Clouded Future


There was a time, not that long ago, when chip design and EDA tools consumed some of the largest data centers with tens of thousands of machines and single datasets that consumed more than a hard disk could hold. The existing IT capabilities of the times were stretched to their limits. But while design sizes grew, other aspects of the flow did not develop as fast. “This has been driven by ... » read more

Virtualizing Cloud Computing With Optimized IP For NFV SoCs


The growth in Internet traffic is impacting how cloud and carrier data center operators design their compute and data networking architectures. To meet the application demands for scale-out servers and networks, designers are implementing virtual environments such as Network Function Virtualization (NFV) to achieve higher efficiency and lower the cost and time of deploying the new applications.... » read more

Dark Data


Last month the National Resources Defense Council updated its study on data centers. The numbers themselves are rather mind boggling, and the NRDC has done an exceptional job over the years in ferreting out the biggest, baddest culprits of wasted energy. Witness the 2011 report on set-top boxes, which is finally beginning to yield changes in set-top box designs. The data center report is eq... » read more

How VXLAN-Based Ethernet IP Solves Cloud Computing Network Bottlenecks


Network virtualization technologies running over optimized Ethernet IP are enabling cloud computing data centers to expand and support the growing amount of internet traffic. Hyperscale cloud data centers are driving requirements for new network overlay protocols such as Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) running over Ethernet. This whitepaper discusses in detail the benefits of VXLAN and how it ca... » read more

Self-Service Comparisons Come To SoC Design


Under the guise of enabling self-service comparison of its compilable memories and providing self-service online quoting of TSMC technology, semiconductor design and manufacturing services provider eSilicon Corp. detailed the latest evolution of its business model—and one that could have interesting implications for the IP and memory markets. This move reflects the changing dynamics of cus... » read more

System Bits: March 4


Self-completing programs Since he was a graduate student, Armando Solar-Lezama, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has been working on a programming language called Sketch -- which allows programmers to simply omit some of the computational details of their code – and then automatically fills in the gaps. If it’s fleshed out and ... » read more

Should EDA Heads Be In The Cloud?


Consider the following two comments about cloud computing and electronic design automation: “Over time everybody will move to the cloud in EDA at least in some extent.”—Raik Brinkmann, CEO of OneSpin Solutions. “We put a substantial effort into that, and of all the things we've done in the last 25 years this is probably the single one where the result is essentially zero. I don't ... » read more

Cyclical Behavior


As we head into yet another DAC, this may seem like a bad case of déjà vu. While there’s plenty of new stuff—and even some new companies—there are some key trends that seem very familiar. Here are four to consider: 1. Cloud computing. For anyone who’s old enough to remember time-sharing on university computers, cloud computing should look very familiar. The scheduling is more so... » read more

A Collateral Shade of Green


Cloud-based computing is hardly a new concept. It’s been around since the 1960s, when it was known as time-sharing. The repackaged version, along with commercial outsourcing, has been talked about in the EDA industry for the better part of a decade. What’s different, though, is that the original concept was for software as a service, or SAAS, whereby full tools would be available online ... » read more

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