Scaling To Meet Engineering Challenges In Transportation


If you’re working on anything related to self-driving cars, you’re likely pondering the tradeoff between what’s technically possible and socially feasible. Example: what do you do if the posted speed is 25mph while the local norms are to travel at least 30 mph? Obey the law and annoy the drivers around you? Or follow the herd and risk the ire of local law enforcement and officials who are... » read more

Making Autonomous Vehicles Safer


While self-driving vehicles are beta-tested on some public roads in real traffic situations, the semiconductor and automotive industries are still getting a grip on how to test and verify that vehicle electronics systems work as expected. Testing can be high stakes, especially when done in public. Some of the predictions about how humans will interact with autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public... » read more

Generative Design for Autonomous Vehicle Electrical Systems


The massive complexity inherent in autonomous vehicle design will push the tools and methodologies used by automotive engineers to their limits. This is especially true in the electrical and electronic systems domains as they come to dominate the operation of a vehicle’s safety-critical systems and amenities. To compete, autonomous car manufacturers will need a new design methodology that ena... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 9


Cadence's Paul McLellan considers the challenges facing copper interconnects as resistance gets harder to deal with and the pros and cons of potential replacement materials. Mentor's Harry Foster digs into how FPGA design and verification engineers spend their time, and why the time designers spend designing has increased. Synopsys' Taylor Armerding contends that the way we use passwords ... » read more

Chip Industry In Rapid Transition


Wally Rhines, CEO Emeritus at Mentor, a Siemens Business, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about global economics, AI, the growing emphasis on customization, and the impact of security and higher abstraction levels. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: Where do you see the biggest changes happening across the chip industry? Rhines: 2018 was a hot year for fab... » read more

Reducing Advanced Packaging Costs


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Chenglin Liu, director of package engineering at Marvell; John Hunt, senior director of engineering at ASE; Eric Tosaya, senior director of package manufacturing at eSilicon; and Juan Rey, vice president of engineering for Calibre at Mentor, a Siemens Business. What follows are excerpts of that discussion, which was held in front of a live audience at MEP... » read more

AV Testing Advances Without Standards


The failure of the AV START Act in the United States Senate did more than just delay U.S. federal regulations for self-driving car technology that has yet to progress beyond the pilot-test stage. It delayed discussions that could have narrowed the almost infinite number of choices automated vehicles (AVs) must be prepared to make by creating guidelines defining what constitutes "safe" operat... » read more

EDA, IP Show Strong Growth


EDA and IP revenue increased 6.7% worldwide in Q3 2018 to $2.44 billion, compared to $2.28 billion in the same period in 2017. The growth was fueled by rising investments in startups in AI and 5G, as well as a stampede of new and existing companies targeting automotive electrification and autonomous vehicles. While startup funding ultimately will run out as these new markets mature and cons... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 2


Cadence's Paul McLellan listens in as Uhnder CEO Manju Hegde explains the most critical issues impacting sensor development for autonomous vehicles and why new radar systems are needed to fill in the gaps. Synopsys' Fred Bals shares key points from the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's investigation into the massive Equifax data breach that show how relatively small secu... » read more

Using Software Approaches In Hardware Verification


Agile methodologies, created to improve quality in software code, increasingly are being applied to hardware verification. This is less of a drastic shift than it might first appear. Developing a verification testbench is largely software, and similar methodologies can be used for reducing bugs in hardware. “A testbench is nothing more than a big software project, and it makes perfect s... » read more

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