New USB Audio Class For USB Type-C Digital Headsets


The ¼” phone jack was invented more than 100 years ago to connect people using a new invention called the “telephone.” Today, the modern variant - the 3.5mm phone jack - is widely used. As modern mobile phones are used for more than phone calls and do not have room for multiple connectors, a new approach for audio connectivity is needed, so product designers are retiring the 3.5mm jack. ... » read more

Synopsys SoundWire Test Suite


Validation and interoperability are always a challenge for any new protocol. An earlier white paper, Digital Audio Simplified: MIPI SoundWire, discussed the basics of digital audio transmission, and benefits of SoundWire over other audio interfaces. This whitepaper describes how easy it is to integrate and validate a SoundWire design using Synopsys SoundWire VIP Test Suite. To read more, cli... » read more

Blog Review: March 8


Mentor's Andrew Macleod proposes that the growing complexity of automotive systems opens up room for a Tier 1.5 bridging systems engineering and design optimization. Cadence's Dave Pursley argues that working at a higher level of abstraction makes hardware design more effective, more interesting, and more fun. Synopsys' Robert Vamosi considers the challenges surrounding responsible disclo... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


SPIE news At this week’s SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, the industry paid close attention to the progress of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Here’s the general report card: EUV is making noticeable progress, but there are still some challenges ahead, such as the power source, resists and pellicles. Several issues need to be resolved before chipmakers can put EUV into mass... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Legal Synopsys filed suit against Ubiquiti Networks and its project leader for "circumventing technological measures that effectively control access to Synopsys' software." The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, claims that Ubiquiti used counterfeit keys obtained or created with tools from hacker websites to circumvent Synopsys' License Key system. Ubiquiti, based in San Jose, d... » read more

Why Auto Designs Take So Long


Designing chips for the automotive market is adding significant overhead, particularly for chips with stringent safety requirements. On the verification side it could result in an additional 6 to 12 months of work. On the design side, developing the same processor in the mobile market would take 6 fewer man months. And when it comes to complex electronic control units (ECUs) or [getkc id="81... » read more

Big Data On Wheels


By Jeff Dorsch & Ed Sperling All kinds of chips are going into driver-assisted and autonomous cars. On one side are arrays of sensors, which are generating huge amounts of data about everything from lane position and proximity to other cars to unexpected objects in the road. On the other side are the chips required to process that data at blazing speed. As the market for PCs and mobil... » read more

Dealing With Unintended Behavior


Functional verification was already tough enough, but having to identify behaviors that were never defined or intended opens up the search space beyond what existing tools are capable of handling. However, while you may not be able to eliminate unintended behaviors, a design team is not helpless. There are several steps that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of these problems getting int... » read more

Blog Review: March 1


In a video, Mentor's Wally Rhines discusses the evolution of test methodologies and the forces that will change test priorities. Cadence's Priya Balasubramanian explores memory trends in data servers driven by the Internet's massive need for bandwidth. Synopsys' Aadil Trikha presents a primer on the types of AMBA ACE barrier transactions. ARM's Simon Segars examines the state of IoT de... » read more

What Does An AI Chip Look Like?


Depending upon your point of reference, artificial intelligence will be the next big thing or it will play a major role in all of the next big things. This explains the frenzy of activity in this sector over the past 18 months. Big companies are paying billions of dollars to acquire startup companies, and even more for R&D. In addition, governments around the globe are pouring additional... » read more

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