Hybrid Prototyping


David Svensson, applications engineer in Synopsys’ Verification Group, explains how a virtual transaction logic model can be connected to develop hardware-dependent drivers before RTL actually exists, why this is now critical for large, complex designs, and how to find the potential bottlenecks and debug both software and hardware. » read more

Wrestling With Variation In Advanced Node Designs


Variation is becoming a major headache at advanced nodes, and issues that used to be dealt with in the fab now must be dealt with on the design side, as well. What is fundamentally changing is that margin, which has long been used as a buffer for variation and other manufacturing process-related problems, no longer works in these leading-edge designs for a couple of reasons. First, margin im... » read more

The Four Benefits of Simulation-Driven Design


Simulation-driven design involves using simulation early, often, and throughout the design cycle to make better informed decisions, explore more alternatives and verify performance. This report presents the business benefits of taking a simulation-driven design approach, enabled by engineers, across the design cycle. It focuses on the four core sources of value for simulation-driven design: inc... » read more

Ensuring Coverage In Large SoCs


Sven Beyer, product manager for design verification at OneSpin Solutions, talks about why formal technology is required to ensure coverage in some of the newest chips, how it deals with potential interactions and different use cases, and why it is gaining traction in automotive applications. » read more

Design For Airborne Electronics


The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), an FAA-led modernization of America's air transportation system meant to make flying more efficient, predictable and safer, is currently underway as one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in U.S. history. This is not just a minor upgrade to an aging infrastructure. The FAA and partners are in the process of implementing new ... » read more

Big Design, IP and End Market Shifts In 2020


EDA is on a roll. Design starts are up significantly thanks to increased investment in areas such as AI, a plethora of new communications standards, buildout of the Cloud, the race toward autonomous driving and continued advancements in mobile phones. Many designs demand the latest technologies and push the limits of complexity. Low power is becoming more than just reducing wasted power at t... » read more

Analog Simulation At 7/5/3nm


Hany Elhak, group director of product management at Cadence, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about analog circuit simulation at advanced nodes, why process variation is an increasing problem, the impact of parasitics and finFET stacking, and what happens when gate-all-around FETs are added into the chip. » read more

Analog: Avoid Or Embrace?


We live in an analog world, but digital processing has proven quicker, cheaper and easier. Moving digital data around is only possible while the physics of wires can be safely abstracted away enough to provide reliable communications. As soon as a signal passes off-chip, the analog domain reasserts control for modern systems. Each of those transitions requires a data converter. The usage ... » read more

Scan Diagnosis


Jayant D’Souza, product manager at Mentor, a Siemens Business, explains the difference between scan test and scan diagnosis, what causes values in a scan test to change, how this can be used to hone in on the actual cause of a failure in a design, and how to utilize test hardware more efficiently. » read more

Achieving Functional Safety For Autonomous Vehicle SoC Designs


Autonomous vehicle systems will be expected to meet rigorous safety standards regarding many aspects of system design and performance. One set of these standards, known as functional safety, focuses on the safety and reliability of the electrical and electronic systems within the vehicle, and the system-on-chip (SoC) devices in particular. As the complexity of these devices grows, autonomous ve... » read more

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