A Smarter Way to Do Multi-Board PCB Systems

A Smarter Way to Do Multi-Board PCB Systems
by Daniel Payne on 03-23-2019 at 2:15 pm

Many electronic product ideas start out as sketches on the back of a napkin, then migrate over to diagrams drawn in Visio or PowerPoint, finally entered into EDA-specific tools. With that methodology there’s a big disconnect between the diagrams drawn with a purely graphical tool and the EDA tools, because there’s… Read More


Attend Parts of DAC For Free, Really

Attend Parts of DAC For Free, Really
by Daniel Payne on 03-22-2019 at 5:00 am

The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is the must-see, annual event for semiconductor professionals that design chips, use EDA software, and buy semiconductor IP. Like all conferences there’s an entrance fee, but for the 11th year now you can get a free pass, courtesy of three sponsors: Avatar Integrated Systems, ClioSoftRead More


Traceability and Design Verification Synergy

Traceability and Design Verification Synergy
by Daniel Payne on 03-14-2019 at 12:00 pm

The IC design and verification process can be comprised of many independent point tools, or for more synergy you can have tools that work together by a more synergistic process. We’ve all heard the maxim, “Work smarter, not harder.” A white paper just came out from Methodics on a smarter approach, Traceability… Read More


Ultra low-power Analog Design using a Multi-Project Wafer approach

Ultra low-power Analog Design using a Multi-Project Wafer approach
by Daniel Payne on 03-10-2019 at 1:00 pm

On SemiWiki we often talk about bleeding-edge technology like 7nm, 5nm or even 3nm, but for analog IC designs there’s a low-cost alternative to getting your ideas validated and prototyped without taking out a multi-million dollar loan, and that’s through the use of Multi-Project Wafers (MPW). Starting with a mature… Read More


Data Centers and AI Chips Benefit from Embedded In-Chip Monitoring

Data Centers and AI Chips Benefit from Embedded In-Chip Monitoring
by Daniel Payne on 03-08-2019 at 12:00 pm

Webinars are a quick way to come up to speed with emerging trends in our semiconductor world, so I just finished watching an interesting one from Moortec about the benefits of embedded in-chip monitoring for Data Center and AIchip design. My first exposure to a data center was back in the 1960s during an elementary school class where… Read More


How Well Did Methodics do in 2018?

How Well Did Methodics do in 2018?
by Daniel Payne on 02-27-2019 at 12:00 pm

In January I read from the ESDA Allianceabout EDA and Semiconductor IP revenues increasing 6.7% for Q3 2018, reaching $2,435.6 million, which is decent growth for our maturing industry. In stark contrast there’s a company called Methodicsthat specializes in Intellectual Property Lifecycle Management (IPLM) and traceability… Read More


Verifying Software Defined Networking

Verifying Software Defined Networking
by Daniel Payne on 02-22-2019 at 12:00 pm

I’ve designed hardware and written software for decades now, so it comes as no surprise to see industry trends like Software Defined Radio (SDR) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) growing in importance. Instead of designing a switch with fixed logic you can use an SDN approach to allow for greatest flexibility, even … Read More


AI, Deep Learning, SystemC, UVM, PSS – DVCon Has it All

AI, Deep Learning, SystemC, UVM, PSS – DVCon Has it All
by Daniel Payne on 02-14-2019 at 12:00 pm

Today I had the pleasure to speak with Tom Fitzpatrick, TPC Chair for the DVCon conferenceand exhibition slated for February 25-28 in the heart of Silicon Valley – San Jose. Tom lives in Massachusetts, a place where I used to live and work at Wang Labs, back in the day before the PC and WordPerfect software ended Wang’s… Read More


Where Circuit Simulation Model Files Come From

Where Circuit Simulation Model Files Come From
by Daniel Payne on 02-07-2019 at 7:00 am

I started out my engineering career by doing transistor-level circuit design and we used a proprietary SPICE circuit simulator. One thing that I quickly realized was that the accuracy of my circuit simulations depended entirely on the model files and parasitics. Here we are 40 years later and the accuracy of SPICE circuit simulations… Read More


The 50th Year of Intel, What Happened in 2018

The 50th Year of Intel, What Happened in 2018
by Daniel Payne on 01-30-2019 at 12:00 pm

2018 was the 50th year for Intel in the semiconductor business, and their Q4 2018 conference call just happened last week, so I’ll get you all caught up on what they talked about. Bob Swan is the CFO and interim CEO, as the company continues to search for a new CEO after Brian K. was ousted for misconduct. Here’s a quick financial… Read More