Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Synopsys completed its acquisition of QTronic GmbH, a provider of simulation, test tools, and services for automotive software and systems development. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Synopsys launched the PrimeECO design closure solution, a signoff-driven solution that the company says achieves signoff closure with zero iterations. The tool includes a machine-learning-driven Hybrid Ti... » read more

DAC 2019 Was About More Than Just Chips


Behind all the noise of the vast array of slot machines, gambling tables and bars and the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip was the large gathering of the annual Design Automation Conference, which was back in the bustling city for the first time in just under 20 years. Following its success in San Francisco last year, and indeed where it will return next July (co-located with the SEMICON... » read more

Meanwhile, 35 Years Later…


At this year’s Design Automation Conference, held on June 3, 4 and 5 in Las Vegas and about 10 miles away from our head office in Las Vegas, Nevada, we celebrated our 35th anniversary with a resounding reaffirmation of our raison d’etre: the provision of verification solutions for some of industry’s most pressing challenges. We had on display a variety of solutions – both hardware ... » read more

Will Open-Source EDA Work?


Open-source EDA is back on the semiconductor industry's agenda, spurred by growing interest in open-source hardware. But whether the industry embraces the idea with enough enthusiasm to make it successful is not clear yet. One of the key sponsors of this effort is the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is spearheading a number of programs to lower the cost of chip ... » read more

Hacking SoC IP Under Pressure


Hack@DAC certainly shows that some teams can find bugs faster than others. The hackfest, now in its third year, is a bug-finding contest for teams of university students joined by a smattering of industry members whose task is to find a bugs implanted in SoC IP.  The teams follow the practices of real-world security teams. “[The teams'] objective is to identify the security vulnerabilitie... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


M&A Infineon Technologies will acquire Cypress Semiconductor for $23.85 per share in cash, or $10.1 billion. The deal will place Infineon as the number eight chip manufacturer in the world based on 2018 revenues and create an automotive powerhouse, making the combined company the largest supplier of chips to the automotive market. Infineon sees potential to reach into new industrial and co... » read more

DAC 2019: Day 3


Two keynotes get day three of DAC started. The first by John Cohn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology & IBM Watson AI Lab. "I am a nerd. Look back 100 years in processing. We have gone from mechanical computing to where we are today, but it has not been a smooth curve. There are smooth places and then discontinuities. This is when what you were working on no longer works. How we make tho... » read more

DAC 2019: Day 2


Day two of DAC started off with a highly anticipated keynote given by Thomas Dolby, musician, producer and innovator. Dolby has always been fascinated with the convergence of music and technology. He started off with a fanfare by balancing a broom on his finger to demonstrate the type of control we have as human beings. He went on to expand the analogy to the hive mind of groups of individuals,... » read more

Training Tomorrow’s Chip Designers


With technology advancing rapidly and the growing number of open R&D projects, there is an expanding need for qualified engineers. To make this possible, practical education needs to start much earlier than after graduation. One the best ways the EDA and semiconductor industry has embraced is encouraging engineering students to cooperate with experienced engineers, technologists and indu... » read more

DAC 2019: Day 1


The last time that DAC was in Las Vegas was 2001. Much has changed since then. The first day kicked off with the usual ceremonies and then two short keynotes. A change from previous years is that keynotes are now on the show floor. This is presumably to ensure that once the keynotes are over, everyone sees the vendor booths. During the commencement session, it was also announced that all cof... » read more

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