Building A More Secure SoC


SoC integrators know that a software-only chip security plan leaves devices open to attack. All that a hacker needs to do is find a way to replace key parts of the bootloader or the low-level firmware to compromise other software in the system used to support secure access. The most simple attacks come remotely over a network, and these can be patched with software upgrades. However, we see ... » read more

Protecting Automotive SoCs Starts With Secure IP


The automotive industry is undergoing a significant transformation. Cars are becoming more sophisticated and valuable with increased connectivity and capabilities to provide a better user experience. They are also collecting and transmitting more and more sensitive data and thus are becoming very attractive targets for attacks. Cybercrime in the automotive industry is growing rapidly. How bad i... » read more

EDA, IP Numbers In Record Territory


EDA and semiconductor IP revenue soared to a new high, up 17% worldwide in Q1 compared to the same period in 2020, with revenue in China surging 73%, according to new data from SEMI's Electronic System Design Alliance. For many financial reports outside of semiconductors, strong growth numbers can be misleading because they reflect comparatively weak earnings stemming from pandemic-related s... » read more

Lower Power Chips: What To Watch Out For


Low-power design in advanced nodes and advanced packaging is becoming a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary challenge, where a long list of issues need to be solved both individually and in the context of other issues. With each new leading-edge process node, and with increasingly dense packaging, the potential for problematic interactions is growing. That, in turn, can lead to poor yield, cos... » read more

Cell Library Verification Using Symbolic Simulation


Standard cell libraries have been a mainstay of chip design for many decades since the inception of logic synthesis and composition methodologies. Cell library IP typically contains Verilog models describing the cell functionality, schematic derived transistor level netlists, place and route views, physical layout views, post-layout extracted netlists as well as characterized timing and power m... » read more

IP-XACT Is Back, For All The Right Reasons


The intent behind IP-XACT has always been to provide a bridge between system-on-chip (SoC) assembly and larger considerations. This standard has additionally been used to adapt to multi-sourced and constantly evolving intellectual property (IP) that design and product teams build, often in different companies. Moreover, it was used to interface with product development beyond the specialized ne... » read more

Integrating Embedded FPGA Made Easy


Chip designers have been integrating hard and soft IPs for decades – some being easy to integrate and others much more difficult. But what about eFPGA? It’s a relatively new IP on the IP landscape and according to data from Gartner, the market share of semiconductors with eFPGA is expected to approach $10B in 2023 with greater than 50% compounded annual growth. So, this raises the question ... » read more

A Price To Be Paid


Ancient wisdom says you should be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it. This was certainly true many times during my career within EDA, and I am sure it is still happening today. Sometimes the outcome was not what was wanted, or the price was higher than expected. As an example, consider VHDL, the language that was meant to correct the problems of Verilog. One of the probl... » read more

One-On-One: Lip-Bu Tan


Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Cadence, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about the impact of massive increases in data across a variety of industries, the growing need for computational software, and the potential implications of U.S.-China relations. What follows are excerpts of that discussion. SE: What do you see as the biggest change for the chip industry? Tan: We're in our fifth g... » read more

Maximize The Value Of Your 3rd Party IP Investment


The need to get to market sooner has resulted in significant growth in the use of 3rd party IP. This in turn has led to a growth in IP vendors. While licensing 3rd party IP may lead to reducing the development effort and time, it can potentially be costly and bring upon significant risk. Of course, there is the obvious cost of licensing the IP itself, but there are several other hidden costs... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →