Next Bonanza: Security Holes

By Ed Sperling - 07 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

Security threats—both real and potential—are beginning to reshape the semiconductor business. These threats are drawing venture capitalists back into the industry as they race for the next big opportunity. They are blurring the lines between software and hardware, as threats grow in complexity at every level of a device and its myriad and sometimes perpetual connections to the outside wo... » read more

Programmable Risk Factors

By Ernest Worthman - 07 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

The semiconductor industry is starting to come around to the realization that security begins at the block level. Intellectual property (IP) is being seen with IP blocks that can be woven into the general-purpose system-on-chip (SoC) hardware layers to secure I/O, data, keys, and various other sensitive or critical information. But modifying hardware designs in response to the demands placed... » read more

Thoughts On DAC While Watching The World Cup

By Anne Cirkel - 03 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

Are you following the World Cup? I am. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m German, so soccer (rather, Fussball) is much more up my alley than football or baseball will ever be. When it comes to DAC planning, we are still at the fun, early stage of casting about widely for ideas and feedback. Mostly now we’re looking to prompt a bit of creative discussion, a challenge since the majo... » read more

3 Challenges Of Delivering Configurable Semiconductor IP

By Kurt Shuler - 26 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

Over time, commercial IP products have morphed from single function blocks to 100% configurable IPs where no two instances are the same. In this article I point out the challenges of creating configurable IP, and the best-known practices to address them. IP Configurability Spectrum Throughout the history of chip design, there has been a spectrum of configurability that has been built into i... » read more

More Simplicity Next Year

By Anne Cirkel - 20 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

I briefly mentioned last week that I want to give you a glimpse behind the curtain of the DAC operation during the year. One goal of this blog is to give you some insight into the work the fabulous volunteers for DAC are doing. And that’s not only the 20 volunteers on the DAC Executive Committee. From the technical program committees all the way to the marketing committee, the event is entire... » read more

Do SoCs Need Earthquake Insurance?

By Ann Mutschler - 13 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 1

RTL sign-off is not a new term, but with SoCs that can be comprised of up to 90% IP blocks combined with the complexities that advanced manufacturing process nodes bring, RTL sign-off activities become a process that demands a more comprehensive approach. “There is a fundamental shift going on in chip design in general in that there is a bigger focus on so-called system on chip (SoC) desig... » read more

What’s Wrong With Power Signoff

By Ed Sperling - 12 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

Reducing power has emerged as the most pressing issue in the history of technology. On one hand, it’s the biggest opportunity the electronics industry has ever seen. On the other, the abuse of cheap power has been linked to global warming, human catastrophe, and geopolitical strife. In all cases, the semiconductor increasingly finds itself at the vortex of all of this, and making chips more e... » read more

Beyond The DAC Keynote

By Brian Bailey - 12 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 1

The Design Automation Conference is split into a number of tracks, such as IP, automotive, embedded software and security, and these overlay the main EDA track. One of these themes overlays the first day of DAC, and this year that honor goes to IP. That means that the first keynote of the conference comes from the IP industry, and this is rather fitting given the importance IP is having for ... » read more

The Week In Review: Design

By Ed Sperling - 06 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

Tools Mentor Graphics rolled out embedded Linux software for AMD’s x86 G-series SoCs, code-named Steppe Eagle and its Crowned Eagle CPUs. Ansys-Apache and TowerJazz have created a power noise and reliability signoff design kit, including reference flow guidelines, test case examples and flow setup guidance. Synopsys updated its verification portfolio with static and formal tools for CD... » read more

It Takes An Army

By Ed Sperling - 05 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

Security has always been a two-way educational process. The bad guys figure out where the weaknesses are, and the good guys figure out how they got in and ways to prevent it. This worked fine for antivirus software in the early days of the PC era, because viruses typically were generalized and the damage they did was rather crude and frequently reversible. Increasingly, however, a deep under... » read more

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