Getting The Power/Performance Ratio Right


Getting to market quickly means determining as soon as possible if a concept for a new design will work or not, particularly where power and performance are concerned. Making this determination requires intimate knowledge of the scenarios in which the device will operate — and that is just the start. In order to set things up, you need to somehow model the system, which could be done in a ... » read more

Transforming Testing Through Automation


"Test your code as you write it.” That’s a common mantra heard in many development teams today. However, for too many, that practice remains a lofty goal as opposed to a business reality. They lack the appropriate metrics and processes to make and measure progress and often underestimate the effort required to manage the cultural change. In this paper you will learn how Coverity: Red... » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 12


Mentor's Harry Foster digs into verification technology adoption trends for ASIC/IC. Cadence's Tom Anderson looks at the goals of the Portable Stimulus Working Group and how they compare to those of UVM. Synopsys' Eric Huang checks out what's new in the land of USB, Type-C adoption, and cable testing. Ansys' Aveek Sarkar explores the challenges facing 7nm designs and the benefits of ch... » read more

Early Power Modeling Using SystemC And TSMC System-PPA


Power consumption is often more important than performance in today’s SoC designs because of battery size and power dissipation limitations. The dilemma is that the most leverage available to optimize power consumption is at the architectural design stage, but there often is not enough information available early enough to make accurate power decisions. On the performance side, SystemC mod... » read more

Where Are The IoT Industry Standards?


Are you ready for some Internet of Things standards? Good, because you can help make them. The IoT is proceeding apace as a business, eagerly embraced by such corporate behemoths as Cisco Systems, General Electric, IBM, and Verizon Communications. What’s lacking is the codification of industry standards for the IoT, as many companies have aligned with groups that have competing agendas and... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Tools Synopsys updated RSoft, its software for the design of photonic devices. The updates include increased integration with the company's TCAD products as well as faster simulations and additional ways to customize photonic device analysis. IP Mentor Graphics, Northwest Logic, and Krivi Semiconductor collaborated on DDR4 SDRAM IP to integrate design and verification into a single flo... » read more

Aftermarket Autonomous Vehicle Race Heats Up


It’s not just car companies that are racing to build self-driving vehicles. An entire ecosystem is sprouting up around retrofitting existing vehicles with autonomous technology, despite the fact that the technology, infrastructure, regulatory and insurance issues are still not fully formed. Uber already is using self-driving taxis, accompanied by a human driver, in Pittsburgh, Pa. And many... » read more

Choosing Verification Engines


Emulation, simulation, FPGA prototyping and formal verification have very specific uses on paper, but the lines are becoming less clear as complexity goes up, more third-party IP is included, and the number of use cases and interactions of connected devices explodes. Ironically, the lines are blurring not for the most complex SoCs, such as those used in smart phones. The bigger challenge app... » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 5


Mentor's Michael White explores why established nodes are experiencing such an unexpectedly long lifespan and how that is driving new challenges for designers. Cadence's Ann Keffer checks out the history of Ethernet and how it won the battle to become the dominant network protocol. Is your IoT device fueling a botnet? Vulnerable firmware on internet connected devices was behind one of the... » read more

Heterogeneous System Challenges Grow


As more types of processors are added into SoCs—CPUs, GPUs, DSPs and accelerators, each running a different OS—there is a growing challenge to make sure these compute elements interact properly with their neighbors. Adding to the problem is this mix of processors and accelerators varies widely between different markets and applications. In mobile there are CPUs, GPUs, video and crypto pr... » read more

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