Blog Review: Aug. 19


Rambus' Scott Best digs into some of the most sophisticated attacks used to target and compromise security chips, such as laser voltage probing, focused ion beam editing, reverse engineering, and NVM extraction, and ways to counter them. Synopsys' Chris Clark proposes a way to identify problems earlier and better ensure safety and reliability in automotive SoCs by moving from a linear develo... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Cadence added new machine learning functionality to its Xcelium Logic Simulator to speed verification closure on randomized regressions. Xcelium ML directly interfaces to the simulation kernel and learns iteratively over an entire simulation regression, guiding the Xcelium randomization kernel on subsequent regression runs to achieve matching coverage with reduced simulation cycles. Kioxia adop... » read more

How UVM Callbacks Simplify Assertion Validation


By Akshay Sarup and Mark Olen Assertions bring immediate benefits to the whole design and verification cycle; thus any challenges engineers face in coding and testing them are worth resolving. When a large number of assertions are to be validated, callbacks save time by eliminating the need to code a new sequence for each scenario. Callbacks also provide more dynamic and fine-grained cont... » read more

Preparing For A Barrage Of Physical Effects


Advancements in 3D transistors and packaging continue to enable better power and performance in a given footprint, but they also require more attention to physical effects stemming from both increased density and vertical stacking. Even in planar chips developed at 3nm, it will be more difficult to build both thin and thick oxide devices, which will have an impact on everything from power to... » read more

Power And Performance Optimization At 7/5/3nm


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss power optimization with Oliver King, CTO at Moortec; João Geada, chief technologist at Ansys; Dino Toffolon, senior vice president of engineering at Synopsys; Bryan Bowyer, director of engineering at Mentor, a Siemens Business; Kiran Burli, senior director of marketing for Arm's Physical Design Group; Kam Kittrell, senior product management group d... » read more

PCIe Simulation Speed-Up Using Mentor QVIP With PLDA PCIe Controller For DMA Applications


In this case study, PLDA explains how verification engineers can use Mentor’s Questa Verification IP (QVIP) to improve productivity during the functional verification of PCIe designs with DMA engines. The flexibility of Questa VIP was key to creating custom testbenches from scratch that can dynamically adapt to different IP topologies and configurations, mixing PCIe interfaces with multiple A... » read more

Chiplet Reliability Challenges Ahead


Assembling chips using LEGO-like hard IP is finally beginning to take root, more than two decades after it was first proposed, holding the promise of faster time to market with predictable results and higher yield. But as these systems of chips begin showing up in mission-critical and safety-critical applications, ensuring reliability is proving to be stubbornly difficult. The main driver fo... » read more

Blog Review: Aug. 12


Arm's Greg Yeric takes a look at what semiconductor manufacturing might look like in 2030 as the price of equipment rises and possibilities for when the next upgrade to EUV, high numerical aperture, eventually runs out of steam. Synopsys' Taylor Armerding explains the difference between bugs and security flaws and why it's so important to pay attention to potential problems in a design's spe... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers Nvidia is in advanced talks to acquire Arm from Softbank, according to numerous reports. In addition, TSMC and Foxconn are looking at possible investments or stakes in Arm, according to a report from Nikkei Asia Review. Infineon posted mixed results for the third quarter of the 2020 fiscal year. "Infineon has so far coped well with the challenging situation caused by the coronavi... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


M&A Goodix acquired Dream Chip Technologies. Shenzhen-based Goodix is known for fingerprint and other biometric sensors and authentication solutions, as well as Arm and RISC-V based MCUs. It is reportedly among the ten largest Chinese chipmakers, according to EqualOcean. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Garbsen, Germany, Dream Chip Technologies originally was founded in ... » read more

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