Avoiding Traffic Jams In SoC Design


While sitting in a traffic jam on the way to work, I realized that the sheer volume of vehicles on the road exceeds the capacity originally planned for by civil engineers, when highways first hit the drawing boards 50 or 60 years ago. It dawned on me that there is a parallel to today’s System-on-Chip design—engineers are struggling to close timing on the interconnect during the back-end pla... » read more

OSDN – On-chip Software Defined Network


You must be mumbling to yourself, “Oh no, not another NoC article! The term NoC is used so loosely in the industry and everybody seem to be claiming they have one, so what more is there to say?” Fair enough, but please indulge me. Actually, there are some wannabe NoCs out there, but very few actually provide a full-fledged network. I submit, a real NoC should implement all the same key d... » read more

Executive Insight: Sundari Mitra


Sundari Mitra, co-founder and CEO of [getentity id="22535" e_name="NetSpeed Systems"], sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss machine learning, shifting from a processor-centric to a memory-centric design, and what needs to change to make that all happen. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What is the biggest change you’re seeing? Mitra: We go through a cycl... » read more

Adapt Or Perish: A Unified Theory Of Coherency


Evolution is a natural process and more importantly a relatively slow process that has eventually got us here, capable of perceiving, analyzing, and handling complex tasks. As our environment, society, and surroundings became more complex we learned how to adapt at a brisk and instantaneous manner, in this melting pot of a heterogeneous world. The evidence can be seen in all ages, from the poli... » read more

Top Mobile OEM Uses NetSpeed to Boost Its Next Gen Application Processor


The smartphone segment is certainly the most competitive market for chip makers today and the yearly product launch cadence puts a lot of pressure on the application processor design cycle. End-users expect to benefit from higher image definition, better sound quality, ever faster and more complex applications which push the limits of application processor performance in terms of higher frequen... » read more

Automating Front-End SoC Design With NetSpeed’s On-Chip-Network IP


This white paper from The Linley Group examines the challenges of turning SoC architecture specifications into successful design implementations. It presents the case that SoCs are becoming too large and complex for existing design methodologies and identifies the need for a more automated front-end design process. To read more, click here. » read more

Optimizing Enterprise-Class SSD Host Controller Design With Arteris FlexNoC Network-On-Chip Interconnect IP


Solid state storage is rapidly supplanting rotary storage in data center computing, driven by the competing needs for lower power consumption, lower latency and higher bandwidth. But the inherent unreliability of flash cells mandates the use of sophisticated host controllers to guarantee data reliability and endurance for enterprise solid state disks (SSD). Leading enterprise SSD companies have... » read more

Top 5 Reasons The SoC Interconnect Matters


The on-chip interconnect is the one area of SoC design that still does not receive the priority that it deserves. It’s like Rodney Dangerfield: It gets no respect. However, that is changing because of rising chip complexity, smaller process dimensions, and acknowledgement of the fact that in a world where design teams commercially license most of the chip’s critical semiconductor IP (like C... » read more

NoC Versus PIN: Size Matters


Since I first helped introduce the concept of applying networking techniques to address SoC integration challenges in 2007, I have been asked many hundreds of times how to determine when and where to best use an on-chip network (NoC) instead of a passive interconnect network (PIN)? Is there a minimum number of initiators and targets below which it makes more sense to use a PIN for the SoC archi... » read more

Don’t Forget To Consider Productivity In Semiconductor IP Evaluations


When companies consider purchasing Semiconductor IP (SIP), they often have a strict procedure for evaluating third-party vendors and their products. If they don’t have a set way of evaluating IP, the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) has developed a Hard IP Licensing Risk Assessment Tool to aid in assessing the value of IP (there is also a quality assessment tool). This aid is part of the G... » read more

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