Fractal Technologies Joins TSMC Open Innovation Platform EDA Alliance

Fractal Technologies Joins TSMC Open Innovation Platform EDA Alliance
by Daniel Nenni on 06-18-2018 at 7:00 am

In case you missed it, Fractal is now officially part of the TSMC EDA Alliance. Fractal Crossfire is the leading IP and Library QA tool used by TSMC and many of TSMC’s customers so this is for the greater IP good, absolutely. Fractal has also released a new white paper “Setup Generation for Fractal Crossfire” that we can talk about but… Read More


Stanford and Semiconductors: A Unique Combination in the 1960s

Stanford and Semiconductors: A Unique Combination in the 1960s
by Daniel Nenni on 06-15-2018 at 7:00 am

This is the second in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”

At 8am on my first day of graduate school at Stanford, I joined the “Structure of Materials” class taught by Craig Barrett, the youngest faculty member in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. Craig had just returned from a post-doc in … Read More


Mentor Emulation Platform Now available on Amazon Web Services

Mentor Emulation Platform Now available on Amazon Web Services
by Daniel Nenni on 06-13-2018 at 7:00 am

Emulation is a hotly contested EDA market segment (which is being won by Mentor) and EDA in the Cloud is a trending topic so putting the two together is a very big deal, absolutely.

The following is a quick email Q&A with Jean-Marie Brunet, Director of Marketing, Emulation Division, Mentor, a Siemens Business. If you have other… Read More


DRC is all About the Runset

DRC is all About the Runset
by Daniel Nenni on 06-11-2018 at 7:01 am

EDA companies advertise their physical verification tools, aka DRC (Design Rule Check), mostly in terms of specific engine qualities such as capacity, performance and scalability. But they do not address an equally if not more important aspect: the correctness of the actual design rules.

Put bluntly: It’s not about howRead More


20 Questions with Wally Rhines

20 Questions with Wally Rhines
by Daniel Nenni on 06-08-2018 at 12:00 pm

When I first started blogging in 2009 my sound byte was, “I blog for food” and the first lunch invitation I received was from Mentor Graphics CEO Wally Rhines, we have been friends ever since. Wally has an incredible mind with a memory to match, coupled with his charm and depth of experience I would easily say that Dr. Walden… Read More


SemiWiki and SmartDV on Verification IP

SemiWiki and SmartDV on Verification IP
by Daniel Nenni on 06-06-2018 at 7:00 am

Bernard Murphy and I spent time with the SmartDV folks in preparation for the Design Automation Conference later this month. Bernard is an internationally recognized verification expert so his feedback is often sought after by emerging and leading verification companies, absolutely. Verification IP is a crowded market so … Read More


Mentor Siemens Update 2018

Mentor Siemens Update 2018
by Daniel Nenni on 06-04-2018 at 7:00 am

As you know I am a big fan of disruption and the Siemens acquisition of Mentor is turning out to be one of my favorite EDA disruptions. At first it was a little bit perplexing but after one short year it makes complete sense.

Siemens is acquiring Mentor as part of its Vision 2020 concept to be the Benchmark for the New Industrial Age. It’sRead More


Webinar: Custom SoCs for Narrowband IoT

Webinar: Custom SoCs for Narrowband IoT
by Daniel Nenni on 05-30-2018 at 7:00 am

This joint CEVA and Open-Silicon webinar, moderated by myself, will elaborate on Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) custom SoC solutions that are based on the CEVA-Dragonfly IP subsystem, and serve a wide range of cost- and power-sensitive IoT applications. Those joining the webinar will learn about the CEVA-Dragonfly NB1 IP subsystem,… Read More


Should EDA Follow a Foundry Model?

Should EDA Follow a Foundry Model?
by Daniel Nenni on 05-28-2018 at 7:00 am

There is an interesting discussion in the SemiWiki forum about EDA and the foundry business model which got me to thinking about the next disruptive move for the semiconductor industry. First let’s look at some of the other disruptive EDA events that I experienced firsthand throughout my 30+ year career.

When I started in 1984 EDA… Read More


Webinar: IP Quality is a VERY Serious Problem

Webinar: IP Quality is a VERY Serious Problem
by Daniel Nenni on 05-25-2018 at 12:00 pm

We just completed a run through of the upcoming IP & Library QA webinar that I am moderating with Fractal and let me tell you it is a must see for management level Semiconductor Design and Semiconductor IP companies as well as the Foundries. Seriously, if you are an IP company you had better be up on the latest QA checks if you want … Read More