IP Requires System Context At 6/5/3nm


Driven by each successive generation of semiconductor manufacturing technology, complexity has reached dizzying levels. Every part of the design, verification and manufacturing is more complicated and intense the more transistors are able to be packed onto a die. For these reasons, the entire system must be taken into consideration as a whole – not just as individual building blocks as could ... » read more

Blog Review: May 1


Synopsys' Melissa Kirschner questions whether a unified standard for safety-related code development will be enough to secure connected cars as MISRA and AUTOSAR merge C++ guidelines. In a podcast, Mentor's Brent Klingforth and John McMillan share questions and answers about rigid-flex PCB design, including the value of incorporating flexible circuits and the key challenges faced when doing ... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Wing received an Air Carrier Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin making commercial deliveries with drones. The Alphabet unit is cleared to deliver packages in southwestern Virginia. Wing has had a pilot program going in the vicinity of Canberra, Australia, and was recently permitted to make commercial deliveries with unmanned aerial vehicles in th... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


A new working group has been proposed by Accellera to focus on the standardization of analog/mixed signal extensions (AMS) for the Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) standard. “Our ambition is to apply UVM for both digital and analog/mixed-signal verification,” said Martin Barnasconi, Accellera Technical Committee Chair. “The UVM-AMS PWG will assess the benefits of creating analog a... » read more

Where Are We On The Road To Artificial Intelligence In Chip Design?


It’s hard to find an article today that doesn’t talk about how Artificial Intelligence is going to solve every possible problem in the world. From self-driving cars, to robots running an entire hotel (in Japan), to voice assistants answering your every question, it appears that every problem can be solved with AI. As so often in life, the true answer is: it depends. It depends on the nature... » read more

Automotive, AI Drive Big Changes In Test


Design for test is becoming enormously more challenging at advanced nodes and in increasingly heterogeneous designs, where there may be dozens of different processing elements and memories. Historically, test was considered a necessary but rather mundane task. Much has changed over the past year or so. As systemic complexity rises, and as the role of ICs in safety-critical markets continues ... » read more

Verification At 7/5nm


Christen Decoin, senior director of business development at Synopsys, talks about what’s missing in verification, how is that affected by complex chips such as 7nm SoCs or AI chips, and why more steps need to be done concurrently. https://youtu.be/bz6KyJh67sI » read more

The Case For Embedded FPGAs Strengthens And Widens


The embedded FPGA, an IP core integrated into an ASIC or SoC, is winning converts. System architects are starting to see the benefits of eFPGAs, which offer the flexibility of programmable logic without the cost of FPGAs. Programmable logic is especially appealing for accelerating machine learning applications that need frequent updates. An eFPGA can provide some architects the cover they ne... » read more

Redefining Expectations for Test


New and rapidly expanding applications, such as artificial intelligence and automotive, are increasing in design size and complexity. These evolving market segments require unprecedented levels of quality and long-term reliability, which has created a fundamental shift in both the importance and need for integration of advanced semiconductor test. Synopsys unveiled a new family of test products... » read more

Blog Review: April 24


Rambus' Steven Woo checks out changes in the hardware used for neural network training and the importance of co-design of hardware and software. Cadence's Meera Collier makes an argument for why vehicle sensors watching the driver could prevent some distraction and fatigue-related crashes. Synopsys' Dan Lyon and Garrett Sipple point to some best practices for how to deal with a changing t... » read more

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