Cadence Update on AMS Design and Verification at #55DAC

Cadence Update on AMS Design and Verification at #55DAC
by Daniel Payne on 08-06-2018 at 12:00 pm

As a blogger in the EDA industry I get more invitations to meet with folks at DAC than I have time slots, so I have to be a bit selective in who I meet. When the folks at Cadence asked me to sit down and chat with Mladen Nizic I was intrigued because Mladen is so well-known in the AMS language area and he’s one of the authors of, The Mixed-SignalRead More


AMS Experts Share IC Design Stories at #55DAC

AMS Experts Share IC Design Stories at #55DAC
by Daniel Payne on 08-01-2018 at 7:00 am

At #55DAC in SFO the first day is always the busiest on the exhibit floor, so Monday by lunch time I was hungry and took a short walk to the Marriott hotel nearby to listen to AMS experts from several companies talk about their EDA tool use, hosted by Synopsys:

  • Samsung
  • Toshiba Memory Corp.
  • NVIDIA
  • Seagate
  • Numem
  • Esperanto
Read More

Daniel’s #55DAC Trip Report

Daniel’s #55DAC Trip Report
by Daniel Payne on 07-29-2018 at 7:00 am

Another year, another DAC, and last month it was #55DAC in SFO and the first thing that I noticed was that the event was no longer located in the traditional North or South Halls, rather we were in the smaller, Moscone West on two floors, almost like a 3D FinFET. Checkin to get my badge was highly automated and oh so fast, well done.… Read More


Optimization and Reliability for FinFET designs at #55DAC

Optimization and Reliability for FinFET designs at #55DAC
by Daniel Payne on 07-25-2018 at 7:00 am

TSMC is the leading foundry worldwide and they make a big splash each year at the DAC exhibit and conference, so I stopped by their theatre area during the presentation from IP vendor Moortec to see what’s new this year. Stephen Crosher was the presenter from Moortec and we had exchanged emails before, so this was the first time… Read More


A New Kind of Analog EDA Company

A New Kind of Analog EDA Company
by Daniel Payne on 07-10-2018 at 12:00 pm

My IC design career started out with circuit design of DRAMS, so I got to quickly learn all about transistor-level design at the number one IDM in the world, Intel at the time. In the early days, circa 1978 we circuit designers actually had few EDA tools, mostly a SPICE circuit simulator followed by manual extraction, manual netlisting,… Read More


What to Expect from Methodics at DAC

What to Expect from Methodics at DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-21-2018 at 12:00 pm

I’ve been visiting DAC for decades now, at first as an EDA vendor and since 2004 as a freelance EDA consultant. There’s always a buzz about what’s new, semiconductor industry trends, who is getting acquired and the latest commercial EDA and IP offerings. There’s so much vying for my attention at DAC each… Read More


ISO 26262 Traceability Requirements for Automotive Electronics Design

ISO 26262 Traceability Requirements for Automotive Electronics Design
by Daniel Payne on 06-12-2018 at 12:00 pm

Reading the many articles on SemiWiki and other publications we find experts talking about the automotive market, mostly because it’s in growth mode, has large volumes and vehicles consume more semiconductors every year. OK, that’s on the plus side, but what about functional safety for automotive electronics?… Read More


Monitoring Process, Voltage and Temperature in SoCs, webinar recap

Monitoring Process, Voltage and Temperature in SoCs, webinar recap
by Daniel Payne on 04-26-2018 at 4:00 pm

Have you ever wondered how process variation, thermal self-heating and Vdd levels affect the timing and yield of your SoC design? If you’re clock specification calls for 3GHz, while your silicon is only yielding at 2.4GHz, then you have a big problem on your hands. Such are the concerns of many modern day chip designers. To… Read More


Mentor’s Approach to Automotive Electrical Design

Mentor’s Approach to Automotive Electrical Design
by Daniel Payne on 04-23-2018 at 12:00 pm

Most of us continue to drive cars and for me there’s always been a fascination with all things electrical that go into the actual design of a car. I’ve done typical maintenance tasks on my cars over the years like changing the battery, installing a new radio, replacing bulbs, changing a fuse, swapping out dashboard lights,… Read More


Combining IP and Product Lifecycle Tools

Combining IP and Product Lifecycle Tools
by Daniel Payne on 04-03-2018 at 12:00 pm

No single EDA company provides all of the tools needed to define requirements, design exploration, track IP, simulate, manage and verify a complex SoC system, so it makes sense that EDA vendors and point tool companies have tools that work together to achieve all of these difficult tasks. Systems design has been around for decades… Read More