Can one process handle IIoT safety and security?

Can one process handle IIoT safety and security?
by Don Dingee on 07-20-2016 at 4:00 pm

SemiWiki had another article recently making the case that in IoT applications, safety and security are intertwined, adding that both are important, but they are not the same thing. Mentor Graphics has weighed in with a new white paper trying to tie both issues to a methodology.

Industrial IoT – or IIoT as you’ll often see in shorthand… Read More


Not-so-ulterior motive leads SoftBank to ARM

Not-so-ulterior motive leads SoftBank to ARM
by Don Dingee on 07-19-2016 at 4:00 pm

This week’s £24.3B offer for ARM Holdings plc from SoftBank has been widely viewed as Brexit reflexit. It did firm up in the preceding two weeks, but this acquisition offer has been years in the making – and if it sticks, one SoftBank motive many analysts and editors are missing comes front and center.… Read More


10 Challenges in IP Design Collaboration

10 Challenges in IP Design Collaboration
by Don Dingee on 07-18-2016 at 4:00 pm

Enterprise design management can be summed up in one word: collaboration. Intellectual property (IP) reuse and the success of distributed system-on-chip (SoC) design efforts depend strongly on how well designers can collaborate. As time-to-market windows have shortened, the challenges around design collaboration have… Read More


Webinar alert – Hybrid prototyping for ARMv8

Webinar alert – Hybrid prototyping for ARMv8
by Don Dingee on 07-15-2016 at 4:00 pm

All the talk about ARM server SoCs has been focused on who will come up with the breakthrough chip design. Watching trends like OPNFV develop suggests the big breakthrough is more likely to come on the ARMv8 software side. How do you quickly validate ARMv8 software when you don’t have the exact ARMv8 SoC target?… Read More


Time-saving modules expand Prototype Ready family

Time-saving modules expand Prototype Ready family
by Don Dingee on 07-13-2016 at 4:00 pm

A big advantage of FPGA-based prototyping is the ability to run real-world I/O at-speed, significantly faster and more accurately than hardware emulation systems typically requiring a protocol adapter. Dealing with real-world I/O means more thorough verification of SoC integration, and the opportunity to optimize systems… Read More


RISC-V opens for business with SiFive Freedom

RISC-V opens for business with SiFive Freedom
by Don Dingee on 07-11-2016 at 4:00 pm

When we talk about open source, free usually comes in the context of “freedom”, not as in “free beer”, and open IP often serves as a base layer of value add for commercialization. The creators of the RISC-V instruction set, now working at startup SiFive, have released specifications for their aptly-named Freedom processor IP cores… Read More


Latest Pinpoint Release Tackles DRC and Trend Lines

Latest Pinpoint Release Tackles DRC and Trend Lines
by Don Dingee on 07-06-2016 at 4:00 pm

After reading previous SemiWiki coverage on Dassault Systèmes and their ENOVIA Pinpoint solution, one big item seemed missing: how does this thing actually work? With all due respect to our other bloggers who covered when Dassault Systèmes acquired Pinpoint from Tuscany Design Automation, why Qualcomm is using Pinpoint, and… Read More


21 months lining up OPNFV-on-ARM for telecom

21 months lining up OPNFV-on-ARM for telecom
by Don Dingee on 07-01-2016 at 4:00 pm

Telecom infrastructure is one area where X86 architecture hasn’t dominated historically. Infrastructure gear is spread across MIPS, Power, and SPARC architectures, with some X86, and a relative newcomer: ARM, already claiming 15% share. That’s a stunning figure considering only a bit less than 5 years ago… Read More


HBM controller IP holds the key to bandwidth

HBM controller IP holds the key to bandwidth
by Don Dingee on 06-29-2016 at 4:00 pm

We were waiting to see what a different roster including SK Hynix and Synopsys would have to say on HBM in the latest Open Silicon webinar. This event focused on HBM bandwidth issues; a packaging session on 2.5D interposers was promised for a future webinar.… Read More


Network generator embeds TensorFlow, more CNNs

Network generator embeds TensorFlow, more CNNs
by Don Dingee on 06-27-2016 at 4:00 pm

Research on deep learning and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) is on the rise – and embedding new algorithms is drawing more attention. At CVPR 2016, CEVA is launching their 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] generation Deep Neural Network (CDNN2) software with new support for Google TensorFlow.… Read More