tag: Mentor Graphics

Tailoring IP, Tools And Flows
By Ann Mutschler - 27 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Ann Steffora Mutschler As SoC and system complexity rises continually and software drives much more in a system, specific vertical application areas will require tailored IP and tool flows to allow designers to meet time-to-market demands. Today, many systems are designed around a platform, which contains most of the STAR IP—processors, GPUs, memory controllers, interconnects, memory s... » read more

Models, Models, Models…
By Jon McDonald - 27 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Jon McDonald It's all about the models. Sometimes I get the feeling that progress is blazing along. Everyone I talk to is interested in ESL design. The value of the capabilities and possibility of dramatic impact on the design process is monumental. It's kind of like having an amazing sports car that will blow everything off the track but you are stuck on an island with no track and no way ... » read more

Material Effects: Trading Performance For Power
By Ed Sperling - 13 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Ann Steffora Mutschler Power impacts everything, even when it comes to semiconductor manufacturing materials. While bulk CMOS technology still reigns supreme, there are a number of advanced materials being suggested as replacements when it runs out of steam at around 15nm, including silicon on insulator (SOI)—particularly in combination with FinFET multigate structures on SOI—silicon ge... » read more

Packaging’s Power Play
By Ed Sperling - 13 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Ann Steffora Mutschler In the not-too-distant past packaging was not an issue IC designers had to think much about. But now, due to smaller geometries and rising complexity, managing power in the entire system has become a major concern for system architects. IC and package designers now must work closely throughout the design process to make sure no surprises come up down the road. A... » read more

Power Next
By Barry Pangrle - 13 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

Development teams are faced with many tradeoffs when defining a new product: How much should it cost? What functionality or features need to be included? And what level of performance is required? As an example, in order to reduce costs it’s possible to trade away performance by implementing functionality in software instead of in application-specific hardware. For an SoC that already inc... » read more

The Elusive Min Power Definition
By Ed Sperling - 10 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling Put a fully charged smart phone in a bad reception area and the battery will run out in a fraction of the time it normally lasts in a good reception area. While this may be an annoyance to consumers, who need to recharge their phones more often, it’s a serious problem in SoC design. Minimum power should be a simple number, but the reality is it’s more like a distribution ... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 5
By Ed Sperling - 05 Jan, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling Mentor’s Robin Bornoff returns to his beer fridge with a New Year’s resolution for sobriety and a revelation that an empty refrigerator never cools as well as a full one. Well, there’s always Diet Coke and double-shot iced espresso. Cadence’s Tom Anderson sheds some long overdue light on the famous processor “divide bug” that generated mostly right answers. This o... » read more

Supply Chain Adjusts To Design At The System Level
By Ed Sperling - 16 Dec, 2010 - Comments: 0

By Ann Steffora Mutschler System-level design is impacting the supply chain at many levels. Software suppliers, IP providers, semiconductor companies, system integrators and OEMs are challenged to work ever more closely together and find a new balance of power for who controls what in the content of an SoC. “We see more and more the design chain driving how our tools work together,” Fra... » read more

System-Level Technology Conversations Shift To Deployment
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Dec, 2010 - Comments: 0

While much has been achieved to define a system-level design flow, more is still needed. Technology goals vary depending on the perspective of tool providers in terms of what needs to be done to realize the promise of a streamlined tool flow from TLM 2.0 down to GDS II. To many, 2011 will be an interesting year in the system-level design space as conversations with customers have shifted. �... » read more

Why Is My Simulation So Slow?
By Jon McDonald - 16 Dec, 2010 - Comments: 0

By Jon McDonald I am amazed how often simulation performance comes up when discussing SystemC and transaction-level modeling. Some of this I can understand. If you are new to transaction-level modeling the implications can take a while to get a handle on. Fundamentally it is difficult to justify the investment in TLM if the models are not significantly simpler to write and significantly fas... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →

  • Sponsors

About

Navigation

Connect With Us

Copyright ©2013-2026 SMG   |  Terms of Service  |  Privacy Policy