Before SPICE Circuit Simulation Comes TCAD Tools

Before SPICE Circuit Simulation Comes TCAD Tools
by Daniel Payne on 02-20-2014 at 3:19 pm

I’ve run SPICE circuit simulators since the 1970’s and they use transistor models where the device parameters are provided by the foundry. These transistor and interconnect parameters come from an engineer at the foundry who has characterized silicon with actual measurements or by running a TCAD (Technology CAD)… Read More


Speeding Up AMS Verification by Modeling with Real Numbers

Speeding Up AMS Verification by Modeling with Real Numbers
by Daniel Payne on 02-15-2014 at 7:00 pm

My first introduction to modeling an AMS behavior using a language was back in the 1980’s at Silicon Compilers using the Lsim simulator. Around the same time the VHDL and Verilog languages emerged to handle the modeling of both digital and some analog behaviors. The big reason to model analog behavior with a language is for… Read More


Designing an SoC with 16nm FinFET

Designing an SoC with 16nm FinFET
by Daniel Payne on 02-11-2014 at 9:35 pm

IC designers contemplating the transition to 16nm FinFET technology for their next SoC need to be informed about design flow and IP changes, so TSMC teamed up with Cadence Design Systems today to present a webinar on that topic. I attended the webinar and will summarize my findings.

Shown below is a 3D layout concept of an ideal FinFET… Read More


Update on AMS Verification at DVcon

Update on AMS Verification at DVcon
by Daniel Payne on 02-09-2014 at 7:35 pm

Digital verification of SoCs is a well-understood topic and there’s a complete methodology to support it, along with many EDA vendor tools. On the AMS (Analog Mixed-Signal) side of the design world life is not so easy, mostly because there are no clear standards to follow.

To gain some clarity into AMS verification I spoke… Read More


Who Won the DesignVision Awards at DesignCon this year?

Who Won the DesignVision Awards at DesignCon this year?
by Daniel Payne on 02-07-2014 at 7:37 pm

The Seattle Seahawks had an awesome victory in the SuperBowl against the Denver Broncos, so folks living here in the Pacific Northwest are feeling proud and optimistic. The recent DesignConconference and exhibit ended 10 days ago and there were also victors announced in terms of the annual DesignVision awards that have three … Read More


Verification Execution: When will we get it right?

Verification Execution: When will we get it right?
by Daniel Payne on 02-06-2014 at 7:50 pm

Verification technologist Hemendra Talesaraattended a conference in Austin and asked me to post this article on verification execution for him as a blog. I first met Hemendra when he worked at XtremeEDA, and now he works at Synapse Design Automation – a design services company.
“In theory there is no difference between … Read More


Verification Execution: When will we get it right?

Verification Execution: When will we get it right?
by Daniel Payne on 02-06-2014 at 7:50 pm

Verification technologist Hemendra Talesaraattended a conference in Austin and asked me to post this article on verification execution for him as a blog. I first met Hemendra when he worked at XtremeEDA, and now he works at Synapse Design Automation – a design services company.
“In theory there is no difference between … Read More


Power and Thermal Modeling Approach for Embedded and Automotive using ESL Tools

Power and Thermal Modeling Approach for Embedded and Automotive using ESL Tools
by Daniel Payne on 01-31-2014 at 7:04 pm

Did you know that an S-class Mercedes Benz can use 100 microprocessor-based electronic control units (ECUs) networking throughout the vehicle that run 20-100 million lines of code (Source: IEEE)?


2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA

Here’s a quick list of all the places that you will find software controlling hardware in an automobile:… Read More


Update on a Space-Based Router for IC Design

Update on a Space-Based Router for IC Design
by Daniel Payne on 01-31-2014 at 11:50 am

When I started my IC design career back in 1978 all IC routing was done manually, today however we have many automated approaches to IC routing that save time and do a more thorough job than manual routing. To get an update on space-based routers for IC design I connected with Yuval Shay at Cadence today. The basic idea behind a spaced-based… Read More


A Brief History of the Apple iPod

A Brief History of the Apple iPod
by Daniel Payne on 01-28-2014 at 9:58 pm

In January 2001 we had a new American president, George W. Bush, I was working at Mentor Graphics, and Apple introduced an MP3 player called the iPod with a hard drive capable of holding 1,000 songs. In the previous decades we enjoyed portable music from tape-based, CD, or mini-CD devices like the Sony Walkman. The first several generations… Read More