Optimizing Power For Learning At The Edge


Learning on the edge is seen as one of the Holy Grails of machine learning, but today even the cloud is struggling to get computation done using reasonable amounts of power. Power is the great enabler—or limiter—of the technology, and the industry is beginning to respond. "Power is like an inverse pyramid problem," says Johannes Stahl, senior director of product marketing at Synopsys. "T... » read more

Determining Where Power Analysis Matters Most


How much accuracy is required in every stage of power analysis is becoming a subject of debate, as engineering teams wrestle with a mix of new architectures, different use cases and increasing pressure to get designs out on time. The question isn't whether power is a critical factor in designs anymore. That is a given. It is now about the most efficient way to tackle those issues, as well as... » read more

Is Your Functional Safety An Afterthought?


Imagine the air bag in your car not inflating during a collision or deploying without a crash during driving! These are two of the failure modes associated with the air bag in your car, none of which you as a driver have any control over. The severity of both these failures is of course very high, but which one would you rate as a higher hazard? The probability of getting into an accident is lo... » read more

Configure, Confirm, Ship


Security is a first-order design requirement for processor-based systems. Processor designers implement security functionality directly into the hardware itself to protect the system at its most fundamental layer. System integrators that use processor IP such as Synopsys’ DesignWare® ARC® processors must ensure that they configure and manage the protection and security features correctly, a... » read more

Are Digital Twins Something For EDA To Pursue?


‘Digital Twins’ are one of the new, fashionable key concepts for system developers, but do they fit with EDA? How many different types of engines do these twins run on – abstract simulation, signal-based RTL simulation, emulation, prototyping, actual silicon? What should the use models be called for digital twinning – like reproduction of bugs from silicon in emulation? Or optimizing th... » read more

Blog Review: Aug. 7


Synopsys' Taylor Armerding considers whether ransomware attacks on cities aren't only about money but if there are political motivations for intentionally sowing chaos and dysfunction. Cadence's Paul McLellan takes a look at the different way radio spectrum for 5G is being allocated in the U.S., which recently auctioned 24GHz bands for mmWave, and the rest of the world, which has focused on ... » read more

More Semiconductor Data Moving To Cloud


The cloud is booming. After years of steady growth it has begun to spike, creating new options for design, test, analytics and AI, all of which have an impact on every segment of the semiconductor industry. The initial idea behind the cloud is that it would supplement processing done on premises, adding extra processing power wherever necessary, such as in the verification and debug stages o... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Products/Services Rambus agreed to acquire Hillsboro, Ore.-based Northwest Logic, a purveyor of memory, PCIe, and MIPI digital controllers. The transaction is expected to close in the current quarter. Financial terms weren’t disclosed; Rambus said in a statement, “Although this transaction will not materially impact 2019 results due to the expected timing of close and acquisition accountin... » read more

Solving 5G’s Thorniest Issues


5G rollouts are beginning to hit the market, accompanied by a long list of unsolved technical and business issues surrounding this next-generation wireless technology. But progress is being made on some of the key challenges facing this technology, even though not all of those solutions will be in place at launch. The real challenges are with millimeter-wave implementations of 5G, which oper... » read more

New Approaches For Hardware Security


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss a wide range of hardware security issues and possible solutions with Norman Chang, chief technologist for the Semiconductor Business Unit at ANSYS; Helena Handschuh, fellow at Rambus, and Mike Borza, principal security technologist at Synopsys. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. (L-R) Norman Chang, Helena Handschuh, Mike Borza. Pho... » read more

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