Audio, Visual Advances Intensify IC Design Tradeoffs

By Ann Mutschler - 13 Jun, 2022 - Comments: 0

A spike in the number of audio and visual sensors is greatly increasing design complexity in chips and systems, forcing engineers to make tradeoffs that can affect performance, power, and cost. Collectively, these sensors generate so much data that designers must consider where to process different data, how to prioritize it, and how to optimize it for specific applications. The tradeoffs in... » read more

IP Industry Transformation

By Brian Bailey - 09 Jun, 2022 - Comments: 0

The design IP industry is developing an assortment of new options and licensing schemes that could affect everything from how semiconductor companies collaborate to how ICs are designed, packaged, and brought to market. The IP market already has witnessed a sweeping shift from a "design once, use everywhere" approach, to an "architect once, customize everywhere" model, in which IP is highly ... » read more

CFU Playground: Significant Speedups & Design Space Exploration Between CPU & Accelerator

By Technical Paper Link - 30 May, 2022 - Comments: 0

Technical paper titled "CFU Playground: Full-Stack Open-Source Framework for Tiny Machine Learning (tinyML) Acceleration on FPGAs," from Google, Purdue University and Harvard University. Abstract "We present CFU Playground, a full-stack open-source framework that enables rapid and iterative design of machine learning (ML) accelerators for embedded ML systems. Our toolchain tightly integr... » read more

How To Optimize A Processor

By Brian Bailey - 26 May, 2022 - Comments: 0

Optimizing any system is a multi-layered problem, but when it involves a processor there are at least three levels to consider. Architects must be capable of thinking across these boundaries because the role of each of the layers must be both understood and balanced. The first level of potential optimization is at the system level. For example, how does data come in and out of the processing... » read more

Differentiation And Architecture Licenses In RISC‑V

By Rupert Baines - 26 May, 2022 - Comments: 0

I was discussing with a colleague about the concept of architecture license in RISC-V. I realized that, in the open-source world, it can be a little tricky to grasp. In a traditional processor IP model, there is a clear distinction between an off-the-shelf IP license that gives some level of configuration but no customization and a fairly expensive architecture license enabling ... » read more

Embedded Software: Sometimes Easier, Often More Complex

By Ann Mutschler - 25 May, 2022 - Comments: 0

Embedded software, once a challenge to write, update, and optimize, is following the route of other types of software. It is abstracted, simpler to use, and much faster to write. But in some cases, it's also much harder to get right. From a conceptual level, the general definition of embedded software has not changed much. It's still low-level drivers and RTOSes that run close to the hardwar... » read more

RISC-V: Advanced Virtual Prototyping Solutions

By Technical Paper Link - 23 May, 2022 - Comments: 0

New technical paper titled "Advanced virtual prototyping for cyber-physical systems using RISC-V: implementation, verification and challenges" from researchers at Institute of Computer Science, University of Bremen and Cyber-Physical Systems, DFKI GmbH. Abstract "Virtual prototypes (VPs) are crucial in today’s design flow. VPs are predominantly created in SystemC transaction-level modelin... » read more

Research Platform for Heterogeneous Computing (ETH Zurich)

By Technical Paper Link - 09 May, 2022 - Comments: 0

New academic paper from ETH Zurich, "HEROv2: Full-Stack Open-Source Research Platform for Heterogeneous Computing." Abstract: "Heterogeneous computers integrate general-purpose host processors with domain-specific accelerators to combine versatility with efficiency and high performance. To realize the full potential of heterogeneous computers, however, many hardware and software design ... » read more

The Challenges Of Incremental Verification

By Brian Bailey - 28 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 1

Verification consumes more time and resources than design, and yet little headway is being made to optimize it. The reasons are complex, and there are more questions than there are answers. For example, what is the minimum verification required to gain confidence in a design change? How can you minimize the cost of finding out that the change was bad, or that it had unintended consequences? ... » read more

Performance Implications for Multi-Core RISC-V Systems with Dedicated Security Hardware

By Technical Paper Link - 18 Apr, 2022 - Comments: 0

Abstract "The RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) is a promising open-source architecture supporting the Open Era of Computing. As RISC-V matures, consumers, industry leaders, and nation states are looking at the potential benefits RISC-V offers –especially for secure systems which may require privileged architecture implementations, physical memory protection (PMP), or trusted executi... » 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: RISC-V