Wanted: FPGA start-up! …Dead or Alive?

Wanted: FPGA start-up! …Dead or Alive?
by Eric Esteve on 04-05-2011 at 6:23 am

The recent announcement from Tabula about the $108 million raised in its Series D round of funding is putting the focus on FPGA technology, and FPGA startups in particular. Who are these FPGA startups, what is their differentiation, where is the innovation, in the product or the business model?

When you say FPGA, you first think:Read More


ARM and GlobalFoundries

ARM and GlobalFoundries
by Eric Esteve on 03-25-2011 at 9:49 am


Although there has been always a strong relationship between ARM and GlobalFoundries, it is interesting to notice that Intel has helped to boost it and make it even stronger. Indeed when AMD renegotiated its x86 licensing deal with Intel in 2009, one of the most significant long-term changes was a marked reduction in how much of
Read More


ARM vs Intel…Performance? Power? OS support? Or ubiquity?

ARM vs Intel…Performance? Power? OS support? Or ubiquity?
by Eric Esteve on 03-22-2011 at 2:18 pm

This blog was posted 10 months ago, and the comments have made it much more interesting! Don’t miss the various comments at the back. Also feel free to let us know if you think the status, in this ARM vs Intel “war” has changed a lot since March 2011. Do you really think Intel has catch up with ARM in the mobile industry?Read More


How much IP & reuse in this SoC?

How much IP & reuse in this SoC?
by Eric Esteve on 03-17-2011 at 10:12 am

According with the survey from GSA-Wharton design IP blocks reuse in a new IC product is 44% in average. Looking at the latest Wireless platform from TI, OMAP5, we have listed the blocks which have been (or will be) reused, coming from internal (or external) IP sourcing. For a license cost evaluation of -at least- $10M!

For those whoRead More


Semiconductor IP would be nothing without VIP…

Semiconductor IP would be nothing without VIP…
by Eric Esteve on 03-10-2011 at 6:35 am

…but what is the weight of the Verification IP market?

If the IP market is a niche market (see: **) with revenue of about 1% of the overall semiconductor business, how could we qualify the VIP market? Ultra-niche market? But the verification of the IP integrated into the SoC is an essential piece of the engineering puzzle when you areRead More


All you want to know about MIPI IP… don’t be shy, just ask IPnest

All you want to know about MIPI IP… don’t be shy, just ask IPnest
by Eric Esteve on 03-03-2011 at 10:14 am

According with the MIPI Alliance, the year 2009 has been the time for MIPI specification to be developed, when 2010 was dedicated to Marketing and Communication effort to popularize MIPI technologies within the SC industry, finally the year 2011 is expected to see MIPI deployment in the mass market, at least in the Wireless (Handset)Read More


Will Thunderbolt kill SuperSpeed USB?

Will Thunderbolt kill SuperSpeed USB?
by Eric Esteve on 02-28-2011 at 11:09 am

And probably more protocols, like: Firewire, eSATA, HDMI …
Some of you probably know it as Light Peak, as it was the code name for the just announced (last week) Thunderbolt Intel proprietary interface, supporting copper (or optical) interconnect when Light Peak was optical only. This will make Thunderbolt easier to implement,Read More


Source of IP: Silicon foundries provides 18% of Design IP blocks, IP vendors only 16% to Fabless

Source of IP: Silicon foundries provides 18% of Design IP blocks, IP vendors only 16% to Fabless
by Eric Esteve on 02-16-2011 at 12:50 pm

Thanks to the Semiconductor Ecosystem Survey from GSA-Wharton and the key indicators of semiconductor companies’ technology strategies related to IP:

  • IP Reuse: On average, a fabless semiconductor company reuses about 63% of design IP in the revision of an existing product design and about 44% in a new product design.
  • Source
Read More

IP-SoC trip report (part II): system level mantra

IP-SoC trip report (part II): system level mantra
by Eric Esteve on 01-24-2011 at 4:45 am

“IP Innovation is moving from component level to system level”. This mantra was heard during the conference, from various speakers: during the keynote talk by Ganesh R. from Gartner and presentation “Integration-Optimized IP from Cadence” by Ranga Srinivasan, also during discussion around coffee (or a glass Read More


IP-SoC trip report (part I): how analyst sees the future of IP (and forecast the past)

IP-SoC trip report (part I): how analyst sees the future of IP (and forecast the past)
by Eric Esteve on 01-06-2011 at 10:44 am

I will share with you the most interesting I have heard during IP-SoC 2010, last December in Grenoble. Today, let’s summarize what I heard about the future of the IP business. The presentation was done by Gartner, in the “Auditorium” (largest room). It first started with the results for 2010, and I took some notes, as you can see theRead More