A Delicate Choice – Emulation versus Prototyping

A Delicate Choice – Emulation versus Prototyping
by Bernard Murphy on 09-07-2017 at 7:00 am

Hardware-assisted verification has been with us (commercially) for around 20 years and at this point is clearly mainstream. But during this evolution it split into at least two forms (emulation and prototyping), robbing us of a simple choice – to hardware-assist or not to hardware-assist (that is the question). Which in turn … Read More


Embedding FPGA IP

Embedding FPGA IP
by Bernard Murphy on 09-05-2017 at 7:00 am

The appeal of embedding an FPGA IP in an ASIC design is undeniable. For much of your design, you want all the advantages of ASIC: up to GHz performance, down to mW power (with active power management), all with very high levels of integration with a broad range of internal and 3[SUP]rd[/SUP]-party IP (analog/RF, sensor fusion, image/voice… Read More


Virtual Prototyping With Connection to Assembly

Virtual Prototyping With Connection to Assembly
by Bernard Murphy on 08-31-2017 at 7:00 am

Virtual prototyping has become popular both as a way to accelerate software development and to establish a contract between system/software development teams and hardware development and verification. System companies with their tight vertical integration lean naturally to executable contracts to streamline communication… Read More


Analysis and Signoff for Restructuring

Analysis and Signoff for Restructuring
by Bernard Murphy on 08-29-2017 at 7:00 am

For the devices we build today, design and implementation are unavoidably entangled. Design for low-power, test, reuse and optimized layout are no longer possible without taking implementation factors into account in design, and vice-versa. But design teams can’t afford to iterate indefinitely between these phases, so they… Read More


A Functional Safety Primer for FPGA – the White Paper

A Functional Safety Primer for FPGA – the White Paper
by Bernard Murphy on 08-23-2017 at 7:00 am

Following up on their webinar on functional safety in FPGA-based designs, Synopsys have now published a white paper expanding on some of those topics. For those who didn’t get a chance to see the webinar this blog follows the white paper flow and is similar but not identical to my webinar blog, particularly around differences between… Read More


Big Data and Power Integrity: Drilling Down

Big Data and Power Integrity: Drilling Down
by Bernard Murphy on 08-21-2017 at 7:00 am

I’ve written before about how Ansys applies big data analytics and elastic compute in support of power integrity and other types of analysis. A good example of the need follows this reasoning: Advanced designs today require advanced semiconductor processes – 16nm and below. Designs at these processes run at low voltages, much… Read More


Smart Speakers: The Next Big Thing, Right Now

Smart Speakers: The Next Big Thing, Right Now
by Bernard Murphy on 08-17-2017 at 7:00 am

There are many “next big thing” possibilities these days in tech but mostly behind the scenes; few are front and center for us as consumers. That is until smart speakers started taking off, led by Amazon Echo/Dot and Google Home. The intriguing thing about this technology is our ability to control stuff without needing to type/tap/click… Read More


Prototyping GPUs, Step by Step

Prototyping GPUs, Step by Step
by Bernard Murphy on 08-15-2017 at 7:00 am

FPGA-based prototyping has provided a major advance in verification and validation for complex hardware/software systems but even its most fervent proponents would admit that setup is not exactly push-button. It’s not uncommon to hear of weeks to setup a prototype or of the prototype finally being ready after you tape-out. … Read More


Webinar: Fast-Track to Riviera-PRO

Webinar: Fast-Track to Riviera-PRO
by Bernard Murphy on 08-11-2017 at 7:00 am

Whether you’re right out of college, starting on your first design, a burn-and-churn designer thinking there must be a better way or an ASIC designer wanting to do a little prototyping, this webinar may be for you. It’s a fast start on using the Aldec Riviera-PRO platform for verification setup, run and debug, and more. There are … Read More


FPGA-Based Networking for Datacenters: A Deeper Dive

FPGA-Based Networking for Datacenters: A Deeper Dive
by Bernard Murphy on 08-10-2017 at 7:00 am

I’ve written before about the growing utility of FPGA-based solutions in datacenters, particularly around configurable networking applications. There I just touched on the general idea; Achronix have developed a white-paper to expand on the need in more detail and to explain how a range of possible solutions based on their … Read More