Who’s Profiting From Complexity

By Ed Sperling - 21 Dec, 2015 - Comments: 0

Tool vendors' profits increasingly are coming from segments that performed relatively poorly in the past, reflecting both a rise in complexity in designing chips and big improvements in the tools themselves. The impacts of power, memory congestion, advanced-node effects such as process variation, [getkc id="160" kc_name="electromigration"] and RC delay in [getkc id="36" kc_name="interconnect... » read more

How To Model Cars

By Ann Mutschler - 03 Dec, 2015 - Comments: 1

The most technologically advanced and comprehensive consumer product in the world today is not the smartphone. It's the automobile. This is easier to see once the hood is up and you can take a peek around. Today’s cars contain sophisticated motion systems, crash safety systems, climate control systems, driver assistance, and infotainment, to name a few. In semiconductor design, one of the ... » read more

Outbound Power Management

By Srikanth Jadcherla - 15 Oct, 2015 - Comments: 0

Many years ago when I first suggested that we should do platform-level power instead of focusing on the CPU, I was considered somewhat of a heretic. Yet, within 10 to 15 years of that recommendation, most of the platforms around us have moved to that method using operating system functions to keep track of the overall power, battery life, etc. As we move into the era of billions of connected de... » read more

IP Integration Challenges Increase

By Ed Sperling - 16 Jun, 2015 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Chris Rowen, CTO of [getentity id="22032" e_name="Cadence"]'s IP group; Rob Aitken, an [getentity id="22186" comment="ARM"] fellow; Patrick Soheili, vice president of product management and corporate development at [getentity id="22242" e_name="eSilicon"]; Navraj Nandra, senior director of marketing for DesignWare analog and mixed-signal IP at [getentity ... » read more

What Is Functional Accuracy?

By Ann Mutschler - 26 Mar, 2015 - Comments: 0

What it means to be functionally accurate in the context of [getkc id="104" kc_name="virtual platforms"] varies greatly, depending upon whom you ask and even when you ask them. But that doesn’t mean that functional accuracy isn’t useful. Jon McDonald, technical marketing engineer for the design and creation business at [getentity id="22017" e_name="Mentor Graphics"], expects to see a lot... » read more

How Many Levels Of Abstraction Are Needed?

By Jon McDonald - 23 Oct, 2014 - Comments: 0

Recently I was having a conversation with a user who was creating cycle accurate SystemC models. My initial thought was, "Why would this be necessary?" Through the course of discussions I realized that he did have a design questions that required that level of accuracy and the simulation performance trade-offs were appropriate for his needs. His cycle accurate SystemC models were running at abo... » read more

Are Models Holding Back New Methodologies

By Brian Bailey - 23 Oct, 2014 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the state of the industry for [getkc id="101" kc_name="modeling"] at abstractions above [getkc id="49" kc_name="RTL"], a factor which has delayed adoption of [getkc id="104" kn_name="virtual prototypes"] and the proliferation of system-level design and hardware/software codesign. Taking part in the discussion were Frank Schirmeister, group director,... » read more

Not Invented Here Syndrome

By Jon McDonald - 21 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

Recently I have made some choices on IP I needed to re-use and some I decided not to re-use. This got me thinking about the general topic of reuse in system-level design. Most will agree with a non-specific statement that reuse is a good thing, but the details tend to be a bit more ambiguous. Clouding the reuse question are occasional infections of NIH Syndrome (Not Invented Here), even if s... » read more

High-Level Gaps Emerge

By Ann Mutschler - 24 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the attributes of a high-level, front-end design flow, and why it is needed at present with Leah Clark, associate technical director for digital video technology at Broadcom; Jon McDonald, technical marketing engineer at Mentor Graphics; Phil Bishop, vice president of the System Level Design System & Verification Group at Cadence; and Bernard Mu... » read more

The Week In Review: Design

By Ed Sperling - 06 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

Tools Mentor Graphics rolled out embedded Linux software for AMD’s x86 G-series SoCs, code-named Steppe Eagle and its Crowned Eagle CPUs. Ansys-Apache and TowerJazz have created a power noise and reliability signoff design kit, including reference flow guidelines, test case examples and flow setup guidance. Synopsys updated its verification portfolio with static and formal tools for CD... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
Entities, people and technologies explored

Shift Left Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

A transformative change is underway for semiconductor design and EDA. New languages, models, and abstractions will need to be created.

by Brian Bailey

Partitioning In The Chiplet Era

Understanding how chiplets interact under different workloads is critical to ensuring signal integrity and optimal performance in heterogeneous designs.

by Ann Mutschler

3.5D: The Great Compromise

Pros and cons of a middle-ground chiplet assembly that combines 2.5D and 3D-IC.

by Ed Sperling

AI’s Role In Chip Design Widens, Drawing In New Startups

Focus is on letting engineers do much more with the same or fewer resources — and less drudgery.

by Karen Heyman

Key Technologies To Extend EUV To 14 Angstroms

Alongside high-NA EUV will be better-performing photoresists, reduced roughness using passivation and etch, and lateral etching to reduce tip-to-tip dimensions.

by Laura Peters

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets

The standard for high-bandwidth memory limits design freedom at many levels, but that is required for interoperability. What freedoms can be taken from other functions to make chiplets possible?

by Brian Bailey

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

by The SE Staff

Why Small Fab And Assembly Houses Are Thriving

Megafabs churning out the most advanced processors are not the only game in town.

by Bryon Moyer

tag: modeling