Secure at First Silicon: Reducing Cost and Risk


Security weaknesses related to side-channel leakage are often discovered far too late in the lifecycle of a chip. Design teams may focus on functionality, performance, and power, assuming that a robust algorithm like AES is enough to guarantee security. Only after first silicon comes back – and an expert lab starts probing power traces or EM emissions – do they realize that sensitive inform... » read more

Blog Review: April 1


Siemens EDA's Harry Foster considers why first-silicon success is continuing to decline even though tools are capable of handling much larger design sizes and identifies how increasingly complex interactions between components cause traditional verification assumptions to break down. Synopsys' Eldo N Baby explores dynamic voltage drop analysis, including how to bring in switching scenario in... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Arm uncorked its first internally developed CPU chip this week, aimed squarely at the agentic AI data center market. Arm CEO Rene Haas (pictured) emphasized the CPU's power efficiency and performance/watt compared to other AI processor architectures. "We are obsessed with efficiency, and if you think about one of the biggest appeals that Arm has had over the years, it is power profile," he ... » read more

Removing The Accuracy And Time Tradeoff In EM Simulation


For years, electromagnetic simulation forced engineers to choose between accuracy and turnaround time. As simulation frequencies climbed beyond 60 GHz and designs became more complex, engineers could no longer avoid mesh refinement. Higher fidelity required more mesh elements in regions of high field strength. More elements produced larger sparse matrices. Larger matrices extended solve time... » read more

Scale AI: Engineering the Next Leap in LPDDR6 Low-Power Memory


Scaling AI is often described as adding more GPUs and building bigger clusters, but real progress comes from system balance. As compute and throughput rise, pressure shifts to bandwidth, latency, power delivery, and thermal headroom. Memory becomes one of the earliest constraints because it sits on the critical path for feeding accelerators efficiently and consistently. In that context, JEDEC L... » read more

Blog Review: Mar. 25


Synopsys' Jayraj Nair checks out how a model-based systems engineering workflow can help manage the complex multiphysics analysis needed to optimize heterogeneous systems. Siemens' Melville Bryant explains the difference between semiconductor traceability and tracking and why they're both essential, especially for complex multi-die devices. Cadence's Jamdagni Trivedi checks out VIP option... » read more

Auto Ethernet 10BASE-T1S Steps Up, With Tbps On The Horizon


Key Takeaways: Automotive Ethernet, particularly 10BASE-T1S, is emerging as a replacement for CAN in vehicle networks, with higher speeds anticipated for future autonomous and connected cars. The transition to Ethernet in automotive domains is not universal; some OEMs may retain CAN or LIN in certain areas due to cost, and integrating various Ethernet standards can be technically feasib... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


War impacts The Iran War's toll on the chip industry is widening. Over 95% of Taiwan's energy is imported, causing the country to secure alternative sources. Korea is also heavily dependent on energy imports from the Middle East. Shortages of key materials are cropping up everywhere. Helium from Qatar, the second largest producer behind the U.S., is constrained by hostilities in the Per... » read more

Blog Review: Mar. 18


Cadence's Jamdagni Trivedi explains the UALink Protocol Level Interface, which defines how devices exchange data and control information, and shares insights into its structure, functionality, and significance in multi-node accelerator systems. Synopsys' Dustin Todd argues that AI sovereignty will be defined by and built on strategic interdependence, where countries develop and retain meanin... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Think tank IAPS' report on AI integrity attacks contends that advanced AI systems must be protected from hidden tampering, backdoors, or unauthorized changes that could alter their behavior or outputs, especially when AI adoption is scaling rapidly, with over 60% of the federal workforce now using AI every day. Geopolitics The U.S. government has drafted new export rules that may give W... » read more

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