Who’s Profiting From Complexity


Tool vendors' profits increasingly are coming from segments that performed relatively poorly in the past, reflecting both a rise in complexity in designing chips and big improvements in the tools themselves. The impacts of power, memory congestion, advanced-node effects such as process variation, [getkc id="160" kc_name="electromigration"] and RC delay in [getkc id="36" kc_name="interconnect... » read more

Safety in SoCs


Today’s system-on-chip (SoC) designs are becoming more complex, increasing the pressure on verification and design teams to deliver fully functional designs. Recent studies have shown that over 50% of the development time on a complex IC is now being spent on verification, revealing the severity of the problem project teams are facing. As more SoC designs are used in electronic systems deploy... » read more

Low Power Design Analysis


This paper presents a methodology for comprehensive power grid verification coverage, including identification of power grid weaknesses early in the design cycle. To read more, click here. » read more

Defining Sufficient Coverage


Semiconductor engineering sat down to discuss the definition of sufficiency of coverage as a part of verification closure with Harry Foster, chief scientist at [getentity id="22017" e_name="Mentor Graphics"]; Willard Tu, director of embedded segment marketing for [getentity id="22186" comment="ARM"]; Larry Vivolo was, at the time of this roundtable, senior director of product marketing for [get... » read more

Addressing The Challenges Of IoT Design


Internet of Things (IoT) designs mesh together several design domains in order to successfully develop a product. Individually, these design domains are challenging. Bringing them all together to create an IoT product can place extreme pressure on design teams. The Tanner design flow is architected to seamlessly work in any of these design domains by employing an integrated design flow for desi... » read more

Innovating Virtualization In Emulation


Last week we officially introduced our next-generation emulator. We used the words “datacenter” and “virtualization” a lot, and it is worthwhile to underline the significance of what just happened in emulation. The new concepts are just as key to emulation as was the invention of virtual memory and memory management units to processors and software development. The concept of virtual... » read more

Defining Sufficient Coverage


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the definition of sufficient coverage as a part of verification closure with Harry Foster, chief scientist at [getentity id="22017" e_name="Mentor Graphics"], Willard Tu, director of embedded segment marketing for [getentity id="22186" comment="ARM"], Larry Vivolo (who at the time of this roundtable was senior director of product marketing for [gete... » read more

ARM Cortex SoC Prototyping Platform For Industrial Applications


Modern industrial systems are faced with many key design challenges including: system complexity, real-time performance requirements, evolving standards, and rising costs. ASIC prototyping platforms, such as the Aldec HES-7, provide a platform for designers to implement and verify functionality of industrial systems at-speed prior to silicon tape-out, saving money from costly re-spins. In this ... » read more

You’re Not Alone


All too often we get caught up in our own work and our own issues, thinking no one else could possibly be having as much trouble as we are. The reality is that many, if not most, of the problems and challenges in IC verification are not unique to one design, one team, or one person. The natural reluctance of people to admit they are struggling with some aspect of their job often keeps them from... » read more

One Flow To Rule Them All


The new mantra of shift left within EDA is nothing new and first made an appearance more than a decade ago. At that time there was a very large divide between logic synthesis and place and route. As wire delays became more important, timing closure became increasingly difficult with a logic synthesis flow that did not take that into account. The tools subsequently became tied much closer togeth... » read more

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