Foundational Changes In Chip Architectures


We take many things in the semiconductor world for granted, but what if some of the decisions made decades ago are no longer viable or optimal? We saw a small example with finFETs, where the planar transistor would no longer scale. Today we are facing several bigger disruptions that will have much larger ripple effects. Technology often progresses in a linear fashion. Each step provides incr... » read more

Designing A Better Clock Network


Laying the proper clock network architecture foundation makes all the difference for the best performance, power, and timing of a chip, particularly in advanced node SoCs packed with billions of transistors. Each transistor, which acts like a standard cell, needs a clock. An efficient clock network should ensure the switching transistors save power. In today’s advanced nodes, when a design... » read more

Dealing With Heat In Near-Memory Compute Architectures


The explosion in data forcing chipmakers to get much more granular about where logic and memory are placed on a die, how data is partitioned and prioritized to utilize those resources, and what the thermal impact will be if they are moved closer together on a die or in a package. For more than a decade, the industry has faced a basic problem — moving data can be more resource-intensive tha... » read more

Meeting Today’s Challenges For LVS


At least one thing is for certain in semiconductor development: bigger and more complex designs put lots of pressure on electronic design automation (EDA) tools and methodologies. Yesterday’s chip is today’s IP block, and entire racks of electronics are being packed into system-on-chip (SoC) devices. EDA tools must evolve constantly in order to keep pace with size and complexity while meeti... » read more

Beyond Autonomous Cars


As the automotive industry takes a more measured approach to self-driving cars and long-haul trucks for safety and security reasons, there is a renewed focus on other types of vehicles utilizing autonomous technology. The list is long and growing. It now includes autonomous trains, helicopters, tractors, ships, submarines, drones, delivery robots, motorcycles, scooters, and bikes, all of whi... » read more

Silicon Lifecycle Management Platform


Silicon Lifecycle Management (SLM) is an emerging paradigm within the industry that is making product development and deployment more deterministic. In-silicon observability and insight are key when it comes to SLM and as an industry we can no longer afford to be blind to what is happening inside the chip. SLM is starting to close the loop between design and in-field. Click here to read more. » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 12


Synopsys' Richard Solomon, Madhumita Sanyal, and Gary Ruggles take a look at the possibilities that CXL 3.0 can bring to a variety of data-driven applications that demand increasingly higher levels of memory capacity, with higher bandwidth, more security, and lower latency. Siemens EDA's Rich Edelman provides some tips for debugging UVM testbenches, such as how to determine what line changed... » read more

Why Silent Data Errors Are So Hard To Find


Cloud service providers have traced the source of silent data errors to defects in CPUs — as many as 1,000 parts per million — which produce faulty results only occasionally and under certain micro-architectural conditions. That makes them extremely hard to find. Silent data errors (SDEs) are random defects produced in manufacturing, not a design bug or software error. Those defects gene... » read more

Yield Is Top Issue For MicroLEDs


MicroLED display makers are marching toward commercialization, with products such as Samsung’s The Wall TV and Apple’s smart watch expected to be in volume production next year or in 2024. These tiny illuminators are the hot new technology in the display world, enabling higher pixel density, better contrast, lower power consumption, and higher luminance in direct sunlight — while consu... » read more

Security For SoC Interfaces Takes Center Stage In Data Protection


Due to today’s connected world, a high volume of valuable data, susceptible to tampering and physical attacks, is processed, stored, and moved between devices, cars, and data centers. And the number of connections continues to grow. Even with supply chain disruptions and the overarching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on chip manufacturing, the number of global IoT connections grew by 8% in ... » read more

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