EDA Strong, M&A Activity Up


The EDA industry is faring well in an era of COVID-19 and global uncertainty, and the numbers prove it. But the question being asked privately by a number of executives across the industry is whether growth will hold up beyond the first quarter of next year if a vaccine or treatment isn't ready. There are a lot of financial models based upon a variety of developments, and so far there is lit... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Siemens will acquire Avatar Integrated Systems. The company's place-and-route tools, which will become part of Mentor's Xcelerator portfolio, include a netlist-to-GDS full-function block-level physical implementation tool and a complete top-level prototyping, floor-planning and chip assembly tool. Based in Santa Clara, CA, Avatar was formed in 2017 from the acquired assets of ATopTech. ATopTech... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Arm's parent company, Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank, reportedly is considering a sale or IPO of its Arm subsidiary, which it purchased in 2016 for $32 billion in cash. Considering that Arm chips are in most smart phones, as well as an increasing number of computers and IoT and edge devices, this development is being closely followed by most of the tech world. Last week, Softbank directed ... » read more

Why Safety-Critical Verification Is So Difficult


The inclusion of AI chips in automotive and increasingly in avionics has put a spotlight on advanced-node designs that can meet all of the ASIL-D requirements for temperature and stress. How should designers approach this task, particularly when these devices need to last longer than the applications? Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss these issues with Kurt Shuler, vice president of... » read more

Blog Review: July 15


Synopsys' Mike Borza explains DARPA's Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon (AISS) program and why prioritizing security in the chip development and manufacturing process is so important. Mentor's Jacob Wiltgen checks out how accurate early cycle safety analysis, aided by automation, can help avoid the problem of unmet safety goals and expensive later cycle iterations. Cadence's Paul... » read more

Designer And IP Tracks Swell With Focus On ML, Security And Traditional EDA Methodologies


What are designers keenly interested in as the 57th Design Automation Conference (DAC) approaches? If you said machine learning (ML), you’d be only partially right. Based on designer and IP tracks submissions to the 57th edition of the venerable electronics-industry event, ML – how to design with it and optimize EDA tools and flows using it – is a hot topic. But so too are more traditi... » read more

Machine Learning Enabled Root Cause Analysis For Low Power Verification


By Himanshu Bhatt and Susantha Wijesekara Next-generation SoCs with advanced graphics, computing and artificial intelligence capabilities are posing unforeseen challenges in verification. Designers and verification engineers using static verification technologies for low power often see many violations in the initial stages. Efficient debugging and determining root cause is a real issue and ... » read more

Maximizing Value Post-Moore’s Law


When Moore's Law was in full swing, almost every market segment considered moving to the next available node as a primary way to maximize value. But today, each major market segment is looking at different strategies that are more closely aligned with its individual needs. This diversity will end up causing both pain and opportunities in the supply chain. Chip developers must do more with a ... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Arm plans to double down on its core IP business and transfer its two IoT Services Group (ISG) businesses, IoT Platform and Treasure Data, to new entities that would be owned and operated by SoftBank. “SoftBank’s experience in managing fast-growing, early-stage businesses would enable ISG to maximize its value in capturing the data opportunity," said Arm CEO Simon Segars. "Arm would be in a... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


IoT Arm is proposing to transfer its two IoT divisions to SoftBank Group Corp., which will own and operate them under new entities. The two IoT Services Group (ISG) businesses are IoT Platform and Treasure Data. Arm intends to focus more on its IP roadmap in data and compute, once the transfer becomes finalized. It is subject to more board review. “Arm believes there are great opportunities ... » read more

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