AI/ML’s Role In Design And Test Expands


The role of AI and ML in test keeps growing, providing significant time and money savings that often exceed initial expectations. But it doesn't work in all cases, sometimes even disrupting well-tested process flows with questionable return on investment. One of the big attractions of AI is its ability to apply analytics to large data sets that are otherwise limited by human capabilities. In... » read more

Making Electronics More Efficient


Projections about the amount of energy required for AI in data centers and other electronic devices are putting a spotlight on more efficient electronics. But making chips and systems more efficient is an enormous challenge. It used to be as simple as turning down the voltage or moving to the next process node, but those approaches are no longer yielding the same kinds of benefits as in the pas... » read more

Capturing Knowledge Within LLMs


At DAC this year, there was a lot of talk about AI and the impact it is likely to have. While EDA companies have been using it for optimization and improving iteration loops within the flow, the end users have been concentrating on how to use it to improve the user interface between engineers and tools. The feedback is very positive. Large language models (LLMs) have been trained on a huge a... » read more

Will AI Disrupt EDA?


Generative AI has disrupted search, it is transforming the computing landscape, and now it's threatening to disrupt EDA. But despite the buzz and the broad pronouncements of radical changes ahead, it remains unclear where it will have impact and how deep any changes will be. EDA has two primary roles — automation and optimization. Many of the optimization problems are NP hard, which means ... » read more

EDA Revenue Up, China Weak


EDA and hardware IP revenue grew 14.4% to $4.522 billion in Q1, extending a streak that began several years ago with unabated double-digit growth. But the upbeat report masked a sharp sales drop in China for reasons that have yet to be determined. Revenue in the overall Asia/Pacific region grew a healthy 19% YoY, while China was -6.3%. The negative impact was offset by new strength in India,... » read more

Intel Vs. Samsung Vs. TSMC


The three leading-edge foundries — Intel, Samsung, and TSMC — have started filling in some key pieces in their roadmaps, adding aggressive delivery dates for future generations of chip technology and setting the stage for significant improvements in performance with faster delivery time for custom designs. Unlike in the past, when a single industry roadmap dictated how to get to the next... » read more

Securing Data In Heterogeneous Designs


Data security is becoming a bigger concern as chips are disaggregated into chiplets and various third-party IP blocks. There is no single solution that works for all designs, and no single tool or methodology that addresses everything in any design. Data is being transmitted across time zones, political borders, and even across multiple designs. Laws and the need to comply with standards may... » read more

The Value Of Innovation


This week's Design Automation Conference is all about the new things that are going on in the industry, both challenges and opportunities. By this time this blog goes live, I will have moderated a panel about why EDA has not been open to disruption. While preparing for that, a number of thoughts emerged in my mind. First, we have to remember that EDA is a business whose role is to support th... » read more

Navigating The Future Of EDA


The landscape of electronic design automation (EDA) is undergoing a monumental transformation. The catalysts? Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). These technological marvels are not just reshaping how we approach design and verification in electronics; they are redefining the possibilities within the field. Our latest podcast episode delved deep into this topic, uncovering t... » read more

U.S. Proposes Restrictions On Tech Investments In China


The U.S. proposed new regulations to curtail American investments in Chinese technologies that pose a national security threat, specifically calling out semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and AI. The draft regulations come nearly a year after the Biden administration issued an executive order prohibiting investments in sensitive technologies used to accele... » read more

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