Modeling Chips From Atoms To Systems


Complexity in hardware design is spilling over to other disciplines, including software, manufacturing, and new materials, creating issues for how to model more data at multiple abstraction levels. Challenges are growing around which abstraction level to use for a particular stage of the design, when to use it, and which data to include. Those decisions are becoming more difficult at each ne... » read more

Current And Future Packaging Trends


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss IC packaging technology trends and other topics with William Chen, a fellow at ASE; Michael Kelly, vice president of advanced packaging development and integration at Amkor; Richard Otte, president and CEO of Promex, the parent company of QP Technologies; Michael Liu, senior director of global technical marketing at JCET; and Thomas Uhrmann, directo... » read more

10X Higher Productivity With VCS Dynamic Test Loading


The verification of a system-on-chip (SoC) is becoming increasingly complex, due to the multitude of functionality being implemented on a single chip. Different verification techniques are required at each level (IP, block, SoC and system) for faster verification closure. A successful verification strategy requires reuse of functional tests, faster test development and faster debug to improve t... » read more

Multi-Layer Deep Data Performance Monitoring And Optimization


Combining functional and parametric monitoring of the real-world behavior of complex SoCs provides a powerful new approach that facilitates performance optimization during development and in the field, improves security and safety, and enables predictive maintenance to prevent field failures. proteanTecs’ Universal Chip Telemetry (UCT) and Siemens’ Tessent Embedded Analytics are complementa... » read more

Securing The SoC Life Cycle


Over the course of its life, an SoC (system on chip) goes through multiple life cycle states which are different in character and have varying and sometimes contradictory security requirements. In each state, the SoC may be under different ownership in the supply chain. Also, as it transitions through different manufacturing phases, it is subject to a different set of possible attacks, which sh... » read more

A Methodology To Verify Functionality, Security, And Trust for RISC-V Cores


Modern processor designs present some of the toughest hardware verification challenges. These challenges are especially acute for RISC-V processor core designs, with a wide range of variations and implementations available from a plethora of sources. This paper describes a verification methodology available to both RISC-V core providers and system-on-chip (SoC) teams integrating these cores. It... » read more

Achieving CDC Signoff On Multi Billion Gate Designs With Hierarchical CDC Flow


For the last few decades, the System-on-Chip (SoC) design size has dramatically increased and more complexity has been introduced to deliver the desired functionality. A typical SoC can have many complex IPs operating at different clock frequencies, which can stress the verification cycle. Generally, design and verification teams are spending an increasing amount of time to ensure that the SoC ... » read more

IP-XACT Is Back, For All The Right Reasons


The intent behind IP-XACT has always been to provide a bridge between system-on-chip (SoC) assembly and larger considerations. This standard has additionally been used to adapt to multi-sourced and constantly evolving intellectual property (IP) that design and product teams build, often in different companies. Moreover, it was used to interface with product development beyond the specialized ne... » read more

Securing Offload Engines For A Robust Secure SoC System


Welcome to the Securing Offload Engines blog series where we will explore different approaches to security implementations and look at system examples involving Cadence Tensilica Xtensa Processors. In this blog, we will look at why it is important to build a robust secure SoC and introduce some of the common approaches to securing the offload engines. In subsequent posts, we will look at each o... » read more

Replacement Gate High-k/Metal Gate nMOSFETs Using A Self-Aligned Halo-Compensated Channel Implant


A device design technique for boosting output resistance (Rout) characteristics of long-channel halo-doped nMOSFETs for replacement gate (RMG) high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) devices is proposed based on numerical simulations. We show that the self-aligned halo-compensated channel implant (HCCI) that is carried out after dummy poly gate removal provides compensation for the conventional halo doping. ... » read more

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