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
Author: Bernard Murphy
A Functional Safety Primer for FPGA – the White Paper
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
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
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
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
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
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
Here Come Holograms
A quick digression into a fun topic. A common limitation in present-day electronics is the size and 2D nature of the display. If it must be mobile this is further constrained, and becomes especially severe in wearable electronics, such as watches. Workarounds include projection and bringing the display closer to the eye, as in … Read More
Machine Learning Optimizes FPGA Timing
Machine learning (ML) is the hot new technology of our time so EDA development teams are eagerly searching for new ways to optimize various facets of design using ML to distill wisdom from the mountains of data generated in previous designs. Pre-ML, we had little interest in historical data and would mostly look only at localized… Read More
Cloud-Based Emulation
At the risk of attracting contempt from terminology purists, I think most of us would agree that emulation is a great way to prototype a hardware design before you commit to building, especially when you need to test system software together with that prototype. But setting up your own emulation resource isn’t for everyone. The … Read More
Rapidus, IBM, and the Billion-Dollar Silicon Sovereignty Bet