Lower Process Nodes Drive Timing Signoff Software Evolution


A dramatic rise in design complexity has led to a slew of new signoff challenges that impact the ability to predictably meet PPA targets. Smaller technology nodes and larger design sizes have caused the number of corners and modes to grow exponentially leading to much longer turnaround times for timing signoff. Moreover, larger design sizes demand huge compute resources for timing signoff. I... » read more

Constraints Ubiquity: Impact On Managing Design Closure?


By Mark Baker and Ravindra Aneja Maintaining completeness, correctness and consistency of design constraints is a challenge that is pervasive in the design flow. Multiple transformations, or touch points (as illustrated in the diagram below), exist during the design implementation stages. Additionally, there are parallel stages involving IP development and handoff resulting in SoC integration ... » read more