‘Speak No Evil’ And SoC Problems


In the first of this blog trilogy, 'Are you listening,' I looked at not waiting for hindsight to be wise after the event, instead make use of what’s available and act ahead of time. In the second, 'See no evil,' we bizarrely saw how Sir Francis Drake, Admiral Nelson and Clint Eastwood all had something in common with Mizaru, one of the 3 wise monkeys (Kikazaru and Iwazaru being the other two)... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Security Ninety-one percent of commercial applications contain outdated or abandoned open-source components —a security threat, says Synopsys in its recently released report 2020 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis (OSSRA). In the fifth annual edition of the report, Synopsys’ research team in its Cybersecurity Research Center (CyRC) found that 99% of the 1,250 commercial codebases revie... » read more

Low-Power Analog


Analog circuitry is usually a small part of a large SoC, but it does not scale in the same way as digital circuitry under Moore's Law. The power consumed by analog is becoming an increasing concern, especially for battery-operated devices. At the same time, little automation is available to help analog designers reduce consumption. "Newer consumer devices, like smartphones and wearables, alo... » read more

Scaling At The Angstrom Level


It now appears likely that 2nm will happen, and possibly the next node or two beyond that. What isn't clear is what those chips will be used for, by whom, and what they ultimately will look like. The uncertainty isn't about the technical challenges. The semiconductor industry understands the implications of every step of the manufacturing process down to the sub-nanometer level, including ho... » read more

Why It’s So Hard To Create New Processors


The introduction, and initial success, of the RISC-V processor ISA has reignited interest in the design of custom processors, but the industry is now grappling with how to verify them. The expertise and tools that were once in the market have been consolidated into the hands of the few companies that have been shipping processor chips or IP cores over the past 20 years. Verification of a pro... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


AI, machine learning Cadence says it has optimized its Tensilica HiFi digital signal processor IP to efficiently execute TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers, which are used in Google’s machine learning platform for edge. This means developers of AI/ML on the edge systems can now put better audio processing on edge devices with ML applications like keyword detection, audio scene detection, n... » read more

High-Performance Memory For AI And HPC


Frank Ferro, senior director of product management at Rambus, examines the current performance bottlenecks in high-performance computing, drilling down into power and performance for different memory options, and explains what are the best solutions for different applications and why. » read more

The Cost Of Programmability


Nothing comes for free, and that is certainly true for the programmable elements in an SoC. But without them we are left with very specific devices that can only be used for one fixed application and cannot be updated. Few complex devices are created that do not have many layers of programmability, but the sizing of those capabilities is becoming more important than in the past. There are... » read more

New Parasitic Extraction Requirements In Custom Design For The Next Wave Of SoCs


Fast growing markets like 5G, biotechnology, AI, and automotive are driving the new wave in semiconductor design and the need for highly integrated system on chip (SoCs). Power management, sensors, RF and precision analog functionality are all integrated on the same substrate which poses new challenges for custom design tools. Specifically, there are new challenges for parasitic extraction that... » 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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