How Much Power Will AI Chips Use?


AI and machine learning have voracious appetites when it comes to power. On the training side, they will fully utilize every available processing element in a highly parallelized array of processors and accelerators. And on the inferencing side they, will continue to optimize algorithms to maximize performance for whatever task a system is designed to do. But as with cars, mileage varies gre... » read more

Multiphysics Simulations for AI Silicon to System Success


Achieving power efficiency, power integrity, signal integrity, thermal integrity and reliability is paramount for enabling product success by overcoming the challenges of size and complexity in AI hardware and optimizing the same for rapidly evolving AI software. ANSYS’ comprehensive chip, package and system solutions empower AI hardware designers by breaking down design margins and siloed de... » read more

Making Better Use Of Memory In AI


Steven Woo, Rambus fellow and distinguished inventor, talks about using number formats to extend memory bandwidth, what the impact can be on fractional precision, how modifications of precision can play into that without sacrificing accuracy, and what role stochastic rounding can play. » read more

GDDR6 – HBM2 Tradeoffs


Steven Woo, Rambus fellow and distinguished inventor, talks about why designers choose one memory type over another. Applications for each were clearly delineated in the past, but the lines are starting to blur. Nevertheless, tradeoffs remain around complexity, cost, performance, and power efficiency.   Related Video Latency Under Load: HBM2 vs. GDDR6 Why data traffic and bandw... » read more

Making Sense Of DRAM


Graham Allan, senior manager for product marketing at Synopsys, examines the different types of DRAM, from GDDR to HBM, which markets they’re used in, and why there is such disparity between them. https://youtu.be/ynvcPfD2cZU     __________________________________ See more tech talk videos here. » read more

Architecting For Efficiency


By definition, to be efficient is to perform or function in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort; having and using requisite knowledge, skill, and industry. As this relates to SoC design today, achieving the highest level of efficiency is a challenge with many dimensions. Efficiency comes in multiple ways. “One dimension would be power consumption,” said Oz Le... » read more

MacBook Air 2013: Power Efficient To The Core(s)


By Cary Chin Last month, we looked at the initial announcement at WWDC of the latest MacBook Air laptops. These new machines are physically nearly identical to their predecessors, boast negligible performance improvements (and even performance degradation in some instances), cost about the same, and yet in my view are perhaps the most revolutionary products since the MacBook Air line was reinv... » read more

Shades Of Green


By Ann Steffora Mutschler Ask five people in the electronics industry what ‘green’ means and you are sure to get five different answers. In the datacenter, the definition is a little clearer because big iron draws so many amps. But at the SoC level where does the industry stand? The answer is as multifaceted as an SoC itself, with some answers based more on one-upmanship than real met... » read more

Challenges In IC And Electronic Systems Verification


By Aveek Sarkar Designing successful electronic systems that can meet the needs of a challenging and quickly evolving mobile market requires design teams to solve critical problems such as power efficiency, unrealistic schedules, and cost-down considerations. In this first of a three-part series, we will look at these challenges. Part 1: The Growing Challenges Designing electronic systems ... » read more

Testing the Waters


By Ann Steffora Mutschler Large semiconductor companies are now testing the waters in 3D design to determine how to best leverage the technology for lower power, better performance and additional architectural flexibility. As such, much work is being done to determine how exactly to achieve an optimum 3D design outcome. 3D is almost by definition an architectural approach to power sav... » read more

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