In the early 1980s, when computer-aided engineering (CAE), the precursor to modern electronic design automation (EDA), was just taking shape, my professional trajectory shifted in a way that would prove foundational. I joined Teradyne, the Boston-based leader in automated test equipment (ATE), and I encountered for the first… Read More
Author: Lauro Rizzatti
From Detection to Safety: Reframing Fault Simulation for Functional Safety
When Software Outruns Silicon: Hardware-Assisted Test Generation to the Rescue
For the past decade, the semiconductor industry has been moving in one direction: shift-left, specifically, shifting more validation into the pre-silicon phase. The idea was straightforward: if software ultimately determines how a system behaves, then software should become a primary vehicle for verification.
The industry… Read More
The Great Divide: A Tale of Three Hardware Emulation Architectures
Hardware emulation arose as a necessity out of the needs of the eighties. By the mid-1980s, semiconductor designs had outgrown the practical limits of gate-level simulation. Gate-level simulation delivered accuracy, but at glacial pace; silicon prototypes performed at real-speed but arrived far too late. The industry needed… Read More
From Wooden Boards to White Gloves: How FPGA Prototyping and Emulation Became Two Worlds of Verification… and How the Convergence Is Unfolding
FPGA prototyping and hardware emulation originated from two independent demands that emerged at roughly the same time, namely, the necessity to implement digital designs in reconfigurable hardware. This was conceivable given the newly introduced field programmable gate array (FPGA) device.
Yet from the very beginning they… Read More
An AI-Native Architecture That Eliminates GPU Inefficiencies
A recent analysis highlighted by MIT Technology Review puts the energy cost of generative AI into stark perspective. Generating a simple text response from Llama 3.1-405B—a model with 405 billion parameters, the adjustable “knobs” that enable prediction—requires on average 3,353 joules, nearly 1 watt-hour (Wh). Once cooling… Read More
Hardware is the Center of the Universe (Again)
The 40-Year Evolution of Hardware-Assisted Verification — From In-Circuit Emulation to AI-Era Full-Stack Validation
For more than a decade, Hardware-Assisted Verification platforms have been the centerpiece of the verification toolbox. Today, no serious semiconductor program reaches tapeout without emulation or FPGA-prototyping… Read More
VSORA Board Chair Sandra Rivera on Solutions for AI Inference and LLM Processing
Sandra Rivera, a Silicon Valley veteran who is the former CEO of Altera, an Intel FPGA spinout, and long-time Intel executive, recently became Chair of the Board of Directors of Paris-based VSORA. VSORA, a technology leader redefining AI inference for next-generation data centers, cloud infrastructure and edge, is focused … Read More
Lessons from the DeepChip Wars: What a Decade-old Debate Teaches Us About Tech Evolution
The competitive landscape of hardware-assisted verification (HAV) has evolved dramatically over the past decade. The strategic drivers that once defined the market have shifted in step with the rapidly changing dynamics of semiconductor design.
Design complexity has soared, with modern SoCs now integrating tens of billions… Read More
Inference Acceleration from the Ground Up
VSORA, a pioneering high-tech company, has engineered a novel architecture designed specifically to meet the stringent demands of AI inference—both in datacenters and at the edge. With near-theoretical performance in latency, throughput, and energy efficiency, VSORA’s architecture breaks away from legacy designs optimized… Read More
The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of In-Circuit Emulation: Real-World Case Studies (Part 2 of 2)
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Synopsys’ distinguished experts in speed adapters and in-circuit emulation (ICE). Many who know my professional background see me as an advocate for virtual, transactor-based emulation, hence I was genuinely surprised to discover the impressive results achieved by today’s speed… Read More
TSMC CoWoS versus Intel EMIB Semiconductor Packaging