MUST: DSP ready solution for tomorrow smartphone based on CEVA-XC 4000

MUST: DSP ready solution for tomorrow smartphone based on CEVA-XC 4000
by Eric Esteve on 02-24-2013 at 5:13 am

Like Guiness dark beer, competition is good for you! I mean good for end user, as it pushes DSP IP supplier to provide ever better solution. I am not talking about me-to type of competition, like that we have seen in the past with IBM trying to displace TI at Nokia, by offering a LEAD (DSP IP core from TI used in every NOKIA wireless phone… Read More


Innovative or Die, NoC IP Market is Cruel…

Innovative or Die, NoC IP Market is Cruel…
by Eric Esteve on 02-21-2013 at 8:14 am

I have blogged in 2011 about the Arteris-Sonics case, initiated by Sonics, claiming that Arteris NoC IP product was infringing Sonics patent. In this article, we have seen that the architecture of Sonics interconnects IP product was not only older but also different from Arteris’ NoC architecture: the products launched initially… Read More


Welcome to the Video Club!

Welcome to the Video Club!
by Eric Esteve on 02-13-2013 at 12:26 pm

CEVA is happy to welcome new competitor in the DSP IP solution for Computer Vision and Imaging elitist club! In fact, we all know that the competition is not only good for IP customers, but is also a good way to boost innovation and propose continuously improved solutions, and Computer Vision and Imaging is one field of high creativity,… Read More


Cosmic Circuits acquisition by Cadence: IP battle with Synopsys has officially started!

Cosmic Circuits acquisition by Cadence: IP battle with Synopsys has officially started!
by Eric Esteve on 02-09-2013 at 6:18 am

If you have missed the announcement that Cosmic Circuits has been acquired by Cadence, dated February 7, you may want to read this PR. In any case, by reading this article you will understand why this acquisition is ringing the start of the “IP battle” between cadence and Synopsys. Let me remind you that I said in Semiwiki last September… Read More


Could “Less than Moore” be better to support Mobile segment explosion?

Could “Less than Moore” be better to support Mobile segment explosion?
by Eric Esteve on 02-05-2013 at 4:52 am

If you take a look at the explosion of the Mobile segment, linked with the fantastic world-wide adoption of smartphone and media tablet, you clearly see that the SC industry evolution during –at least- the next five years will be intimately correlated with the mobile segments. Not really a surprise, but the question I would like … Read More


Design IP including Multi-standard SerDes enables risk-free, faster customer ASIC designs

Design IP including Multi-standard SerDes enables risk-free, faster customer ASIC designs
by Eric Esteve on 02-01-2013 at 8:25 am

ASIC design service companies are an essential piece of the SC ecosystem, as well as Silicon Foundries, EDA and IP vendors. Their customers range from pure fabless with no ASIC design resources, who need a third party to turn a concept into a real product (IC) and then market and sale it, to large IDM temporarily lacking design resource… Read More


Design team in China also lead Network-on-Chip adoption…

Design team in China also lead Network-on-Chip adoption…
by Eric Esteve on 01-29-2013 at 10:43 am

I have mentioned NoC adoption explosion during the last two years, illustrated by the huge growth in revenue of a company like Arteris: if we consider only revenue coming from upfront license sales (not including royalties), Arteris growth has been geometric between 2011 and 2010, passing from 18 to 39 customers, which is more … Read More


How to manage decreasing by 70% a $5B IC business in less than 6 years? TI knows the answer…

How to manage decreasing by 70% a $5B IC business in less than 6 years? TI knows the answer…
by Eric Esteve on 01-24-2013 at 9:40 am

The Wireless Business Unit (WBU) from TI was created in the mid 90’s to structure the chip business in wireless handset made with customers like Nokia, Ericsson or Alcatel. I had a deep look at the WBU results: quickly growing from $1B in 2000 to reach about $5B in 2005… to finally decrease by 70%, down to $1.3B in 2012.

Let’s make it clear:… Read More


New PCI Express 3.0 Equalization Requirements

New PCI Express 3.0 Equalization Requirements
by Eric Esteve on 01-22-2013 at 9:18 am

PCI Express 3.0 increased the supported data rate to 8 Gbps, which effectively doubles the data rate supported by PCI Express 2.0. While the data rate was increased, no improvement was made to the channels. As such, an 8 Gbps channel in PCIe 3.0 experiences significantly more loss than one implemented in PCIe 2.0. To compensate for… Read More


Buying DDRn Controller IP AND Memory Model to the same IP vendor gives real TTM advantage

Buying DDRn Controller IP AND Memory Model to the same IP vendor gives real TTM advantage
by Eric Esteve on 01-17-2013 at 10:52 am

We all know the concept of “one stop shop”, becoming popular in the Design IP market. The topic we will address today is NOT the “one stop shop”, even if it looks similar, but rather that we could call “consistent design flow”.

What does that means? Simply that, if your SoC design is integrating a DDRn (LPDDR2, DDR3 or even DDR4, let’s… Read More