Not All Software Is Like Elvis


January is traditionally my look-back and outlook month. Five years ago my year-end wish had been a census of software developers, and it is fascinating how software in the context of verification has evolved since then (more on this below). Also, most years I go into my garage, dust off my collection of IEEE Spectrum print editions from January five, ten and 15 years back to assess which of th... » read more

Hybrid Simulation Picks Up Steam


As electronic products shift from hardware-centric to software-directed, design teams are relying increasingly on a simulation approach that includes multiple engines—and different ways to use those engines—to encompass as much of the system as possible. How engineers go about using these approaches, and even how they define them, varies greatly from one company to the next. Sometimes it... » read more

Meeting ISO 26262 Guidelines


The average car today contains up to 100 million lines of code. Software controls everything from safety critical systems like brakes and power steering, to basic vehicle controls like doors and windows. Yet the average car today may have up to 150,000 bugs, many of which could damage the brand, hurt customer satisfaction and, in the most extreme case, lead to a catastrophic failure. Software d... » read more

Transferring Skills Getting Harder


Rising complexity in developing chips at advanced nodes, and an almost perpetual barrage of new engineering challenges at each new node, are making it more difficult for everyone involved to maintain consistent skill levels across a growing number of interrelated technologies. The result is that engineers are being forced to specialize, but when they work with other engineers with different ... » read more

Power State Switching Gets Tougher


Power state switching delay is a key factor in minimizing power, and getting it right frequently means the difference between a successful design and a dead chip. But tradeoffs are intricate, complex and often involve judgment calls, making this a place where designs can go completely awry. For years, traditional, full-swing [gettech id="31093" comment="CMOS"] process technologies were used ... » read more

IoT Security Risks Grow


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss security issues with Asaf Shen, vice president of marketing for security IP in ARM's Systems & Software Group; Timothy Dry, principal staff marketing manager for the Industrial IoT segment at GlobalFoundries; Chowdary Yanamadala, senior vice president of business development at ChaoLogix; and Eric Sivertson, CEO of Quantum Trace. What follows ar... » read more

FDA: Postmarket Management of Cybersecurity in Medical Devices


Source: U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Center for Devices & Radiological Health dated 12/28/16 "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing this guidance to inform industry and FDA staff of the Agency’s recommendations for managing postmarket cybersecurity vulnerabilities for marketed and distributed medical devices. In addition to the specific recommendations contained in this gui... » read more

Architect Specs Harder To Follow


Interpreting and implementing architects' specifications is getting harder at each new process node, which is creating problems throughout the design flow, into manufacturing, and sometimes even post-production. Rising complexity and difficulties in scaling have pushed much more of the burden onto architects to deal with everything from complex power schemes, new packaging approaches, and to... » read more

Tools For Heterogeneous System Development


System architects look to both heterogeneous and homogeneous computing when there are no other options available, but the current thinking is that a system-level software methodology could simplify the design, ease integration of various blocks, and potentially improve performance for less power. While the theory appears sound enough, implementing it has turned out to be harder than expected. ... » read more

Don’t Let Bad Apples Ruin Your Pie


The quality of a pie depends heavily on the ingredients you use. Do you use bleached white flour or organic multigrain flour? Do you use sugar or a carcinogenic artificial sweetener? Do you use Granny Smith apples, or Honeycrisp, or those funky apples that fell off the tree that’s in your neighborhood? Managing ingredients is crucial to your success. Suppose you’re not paying close atten... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →