Softening Hardware: Using Application-Specific Processors to Optimize Modern SoC Designs


Over the past decade, the trend in SoC design has been to add more functionality into software, but moving functionality from hardware into software comes at a cost: software requires a processor, which, if not designed for optimal efficiency, could be slower and use more power than dedicated hardware. It often makes sense to implement smaller, specialized processors to tackle specific tasks wi... » read more

AI Chip Architectures Race To The Edge


As machine-learning apps start showing up in endpoint devices and along the network edge of the IoT, the accelerators that make AI possible may look more like FPGA and SoC modules than current data-center-bound chips from Intel or Nvidia. Artificial intelligence and machine learning need powerful chips for computing answers (inference) from large data sets (training). Most AI chips—both tr... » read more

Design For Advanced Packaging


Advanced packaging techniques are viewed as either a replacement for Moore's Law scaling, or a way of augmenting it. But there is a big gap between the extensive work done to prove these devices can be manufactured with sufficient yield and the amount of attention being paid to the demands advanced packaging has on the design and verification flows. Not all advanced packaging places the same... » read more

System-Level Testing – The New Paradigm for Semiconductor Quality Control


Covering the history and trends of system-level test for semiconductors, this solution brief discusses: The increasing complexities of testing advanced semiconductor integrated devices across a span of applications: automotive, mobile computing, wearables, and more; Semiconductor trends driving necessary shifts in testing methodologies including SiP, SoC, 3D finFETs, heterogeneous compo... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Amazon Web Services announced that Iridium Communications has joined the AWS Partner Network. AWS and Iridium have collaborated on development of Iridium CloudConnect, a service that enables worldwide coverage for Internet of Things applications through Iridium’s satellite network. AWS IoT is being paired with Iridium IoT services as a result. IHS Markit forecasts there wi... » read more

Accelerate SoC Simulation Time of Newer Generation FPGAs


Comprehensive verification that can be provided by HDL simulators is good, but not ideal. What is necessary is a faster, safer, and more thorough verification environment that combines the robustness of an HDL simulator with the speed of FPGA prototyping boards. The goal is to put together the power of these two verification methodologies into one platform. Read more. » read more

ISO26262: The Case for Embedded Analytics in Automotive (updated: V.4.0)


From advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to a new generation of robots and medical systems, we are seeing an explosion in the development of cyber-physical systems. Because these systems use advanced software to interact with the physical world, safety is a paramount issue but one that is reflected in many industries by the use of safety standards based on a philosophy of risk assessme... » read more

Machine Learning Shifts More Work to FPGAs, SoCs


A wave of machine-learning-optimized chips is expected to begin shipping in the next few months, but it will take time before data centers decide whether these new accelerators are worth adopting and whether they actually live up to claims of big gains in performance. There are numerous reports that silicon custom-designed for machine learning will deliver 100X the performance of current opt... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Release 3 is published by oneM2M, the worldwide Internet of Things interoperability standards initiative. The third set of specifications deals with 3GPP interworking, especially as it relates to cellular IoT connectivity, among other features. The release is said to enable seamless interworking with narrowband IoT and LTE-M connectivity through the 3GPP Service Capability E... » read more

Accelerating SoC Time To Market With Cloud-Based Verification


This paper discusses the growing use of cloud and hybrid cloud environments among semiconductor design and verification teams. The schedule and efficiency benefits seen by verification teams using cloud are specifically highlighted, due to the considerable compute requirements associated with verification of advanced node SoCs, and the significant impact verification has on the overall SoC proj... » read more

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