Unintended Coupling Issues Grow


The number of indirect and often unexpected ways in which one design element may be affected by another is growing, making it more difficult to ensure a chip — or multiple chips in a package — will perform reliably. Long gone are the days when the only way that one part of a circuit could influence another was by an intended wire connecting them. As geometries get smaller, frequencies go... » read more

Achieving C-V2X Compliance


Testing the performance of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) components and subsystems to achieve compliance against evolving 5G test requirements is an ongoing challenge for the connected vehicle market. The global acceptance for the C-V2X technology takes autonomous driving from a shared vision to mass-market reality. C-V2X uses the 3rd Partner Project (3GPP) standard for 4G and 5G mo... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


AMD completed its acquisition of Xilinx. The all-stock deal ended up being valued at approximately $50 billion due to a rise in AMD's share price (the deal was valued at $35 billion when announced). The Xilinx business will become the newly formed Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group (AECG), led by former Xilinx CEO Victor Peng, and will continue its FPGA, adaptive SoC, and software roadmaps a... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive Renesas and AVL Software and Functions are collaborating to support developers of automotive ISO 26262-compliant electronic control units (ECUs). Renesas sells automotive R-Car SoCs, RH850 automotive control MCUs, PMICs, and software for levels ASIL B to ASIL D of ISO26262, but even with automotive ISO26262 parts, ECU system development process is never plug and play. Functional saf... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Arm is officially off. The deal faced significant pushback from regulatory agencies in the UK, USA, and Europe, which feared it would reduce or limit competition in areas like data center. Nvidia indicated it would continue working with Arm, and it will retain a 20-year Arm license. (SoftBank will retain the $1.25 billion prepaid by Nvidia.) SoftBank said it wil... » read more

Spreadsheets: Still Valuable, But More Limited


Spreadsheets have been an invaluable engineering tool for many aspects of semiconductor design and verification, but their inability to handle complexity is squeezing them out of an increasing number of applications. This is raising questions about whether they still have a role, and if so, how large that role will be. There are two sides to this issue. On one side are the users who see them... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools & IP Ansys updated its product suite, adding new tools and workflows in Ansys 2022 R1. It adds Phi Plus meshing technology to improve simulation of PCB and complex 3D IC packaging. It also introduces RedHawk-SC SigmaDVD, a statistically realistic modeling technique to identify the worst-case dynamic voltage-drop in hours and make it possible to achieve near 100% coverage of all relev... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Pervasive computing, IoT and 5G The U.S. company SpaceX deployed more satellites into LEO (low earth orbit) Starlink constellation and launched a premium service for businesses that costs $500 a month, bringing download speeds of 150-500 Mbps and latency of 20-40ms. The regular Starlink service is $99 a month. Starlink has launched over 2,000 satellites into its constellation, according to sta... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


China’s regulators are agreeing to AMD’s acquisition of Xilinx with the caveat that AMD must agree not to force tie-in sales Xilinx's products with AMD products, according to Reuters. China's State Administration for Market Regulation said the companies cannot discriminate against customers using other technology. Xilinx's SEC 8-K form confirms that the two companies received clearance for ... » read more

Growth Spurred By Negatives


The success and health of the semiconductor industry is driven by the insatiable appetite for increasingly complex devices that impact every aspect of our lives. The number of design starts for the chips used in those devices drives the EDA industry. But at no point in history have there been as many market segments driving innovation as there are today. Moreover, there is no indication this... » read more

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