Blog Review: Nov. 25


Mentor's Harry Foster finds growing complexity in FPGA design by looking at the number of embedded microprocessors, asynchronous clock domains, and safety/security features in the 2020 Wilson Research Group Functional Verification Study. Cadence's Paul McLellan points to the interim SRC/SIA Decadal Plan for Semiconductors and five big shifts it identifies in information and communication tec... » read more

Security Gaps In Open Source Hardware And AI


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss security risks across multiple market segments with Helena Handschuh, security technologies fellow at Rambus; Mike Borza, principal security technologist for the Solutions Group at Synopsys; Steve Carlson, director of aerospace and defense solutions at Cadence; Alric Althoff, senior hardware security engineer at Tortuga Logic; and Joe Kiniry, princi... » read more

Silo Busting In The Design Flow


An increasing number of dependencies in system design are forcing companies, people, tools, and flows to become more collaborative. Design and EDA companies must adapt to this new reality because it has become impossible for anyone to do it all by themselves. Moreover, what happens in manufacturing and packaging needs to be considered up front, and what gets designed in the design phase may ... » read more

Brute-Force Analysis Not Keeping Up With IC Complexity


Much of the current design and verification flow was built on brute force analysis, a simple and direct approach. But that approach rarely scales, and as designs become larger and the number of interdependencies increases, ensuring the design always operates within spec is becoming a monumental task. Unless design teams want to keep adding increasing amounts of margin, they have to locate th... » read more

Virtual Prototyping For Power Electronics Systems


By Alan Courtay and Gobi Kengara Palayam Appavoo Every day, power electronics systems play a bigger role in our lives. All-electric and hybrid vehicles are now common on our streets. Electrification of the aerospace industry is accelerating, and observers expect hybrid and electric aircraft to make an impact over the next decade or two. Many industrial systems rely increasingly on electronic... » read more

The Growing Market For Specialized Artificial Intelligence IP In SoCs


Over the past decade, designers have developed silicon technologies that run advanced deep learning mathematics fast enough to explore and implement artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as object identification, voice and facial recognition, and more. Machine vision applications, which are now often more accurate than a human, are one of the key functions driving new system-on-chip (S... » read more

Emerging Apps And Challenges For Packaging


Advanced packaging is playing a bigger role and becoming a more viable option to develop new system-level chip designs, but it also presents chipmakers with a confusing array of options and sometimes a hefty price tag. Automotive, servers, smartphones and other systems have embraced advanced packaging in one form or another. For other applications, it's overkill, and a simpler commodity pack... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fab tools PDF Solutions has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cimetrix. Under the terms, PDF will pay a cash amount of $35.0 million, net of cash on Cimetrix’s balance sheet as of closing, and subject to other closing adjustments. With the move, PDF will expand into new markets. Cimetrix is a provider of equipment connectivity products for smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Synopsys acquired Light Tec, a provider of optical scattering measurements and measurement equipment. The company also provides optical engineering consulting services plus training for use of Synopsys' lighting simulation software. "Light Tec's proven optical measurement capabilities provide our customers with robust new tools for high-accuracy optical product simulations and visualizations," ... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Pervasive computing — Data centers, cloud, 5G, edge In a move to improve data collection for IC manufacturing, PDF Solutions entered a definitive agreement to acquire Cimetrix Incorporated. Cimetrix makes connectivity products for smart manufacturing, which PDF Solutions will use in its Exensio product to facilitate moving IC manufacturing data from the factory floor to cloud-based analytics... » read more

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