Dassault Systemes Hosts New Microsite Focused on IP Reuse Challenges

Dassault Systemes Hosts New Microsite Focused on IP Reuse Challenges
by Mitch Heins on 01-04-2017 at 12:00 pm

I recently wrote an article about networks-on-chip (NoC) and how Systems-On-Chip integrated circuits (SoCs) are becoming increasingly more complex and heterogeneous in nature. While researching for that article I came upon a new micro-site by Dassault Systemes that goes into great detail about the operational challenges… Read More


NetSpeed Bridges the Gap Between Architecture and Implementation

NetSpeed Bridges the Gap Between Architecture and Implementation
by Mitch Heins on 12-29-2016 at 11:30 am

This is part II of an article covering NetSpeed’s network-on-chip (NoC) offerings. This article dives a little deeper into what a NoC is and how NetSpeed’s network synthesis tool, NocStudio, helps system architects optimize a NoC for their system-on-a-chip (SoC) design.

Traditionally IC designers have used proprietary buses,… Read More


NetSpeed Leverages Machine Learning for Automotive IC End-to-End QoS Solutions

NetSpeed Leverages Machine Learning for Automotive IC End-to-End QoS Solutions
by Mitch Heins on 12-24-2016 at 4:00 pm

A couple of weeks back I wrote an article about the use of machine learning and deep neural networks in self-driving cars. Now I find that machine learning is also being applied to help build advanced end-to-end QoS (quality of service) solutions for the automotive IC market. With the advent of self-driving cars comes requirements… Read More


ARM and Open Silicon Join Forces to Fight the IoT Edge Wars!

ARM and Open Silicon Join Forces to Fight the IoT Edge Wars!
by Mitch Heins on 12-19-2016 at 4:00 pm


I spent the last several days doing a deep dive into the world of IoT security and what I’ve learned has scared the pants off me. Various analysts predict that there will be over 30 billion connected IoT devices by the year 2020 growing from 9.9 million in 2013. A quick audit of my home identified over 40 connected devices including everything… Read More


NVIDIA’s Deep Learning GPUs Driving Your Car!

NVIDIA’s Deep Learning GPUs Driving Your Car!
by Mitch Heins on 12-09-2016 at 4:00 pm

In a recent SemiWiki article it was noted that 5 of the top 20 semiconductor suppliers are showing double-digit gains for 2016. At the top of the list was NVIDIA with an annual growth rate of 35%. Most of this gain is due to sales of its graphics processors (GPUs) which one normally associates with high performance computer gaming engines.… Read More


Mentor’s Battle of the Photonic Bulge

Mentor’s Battle of the Photonic Bulge
by Mitch Heins on 12-07-2016 at 4:00 pm

A few weeks back I wrote an article mentioning that Mentor Graphics has been quietly working on solutions for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for some time now, while one of their competitors has recently established a photonics beachhead. One of the most common challenges for PIC designs is their curvilinear nature, thus… Read More


Heads Up! Photonics West is Just Around the Corner

Heads Up! Photonics West is Just Around the Corner
by Mitch Heins on 12-04-2016 at 4:00 pm

As I write about integrated photonics I continue to hear from long-time experts in the field who lament that integrated photonics has been around for decades and other than telecom/datacom, it seems to never be a mainstream technology. It’s hard to argue that this time around it will be different as those people have lived through… Read More


Fabless and IDMs Training up on Integrated Photonics

Fabless and IDMs Training up on Integrated Photonics
by Mitch Heins on 11-28-2016 at 12:00 pm

I had the good fortune to be able to attend a very informative five-day photonic integrated circuit (PIC) training this last week in Santa Clara, CA. The training was organized by Erik Pennings of 7 Pennies consulting and hosted by Tektronix. Several ecosystem partners from the design automation, photonic foundries and photonic… Read More


Cadence Design Secures Photonic Beachhead

Cadence Design Secures Photonic Beachhead
by Mitch Heins on 11-23-2016 at 12:00 pm

I had the privilege to attend a five-day PIC (photonic integrated circuit) training hosted by 7-Penniesand Tektronix in San Jose, CA this week. This training was quite comprehensive and covered photonic materials and platforms, design automation, fabrication, packaging and test. It also included invited talks from photonic… Read More


Mentor DefectSim Seen as Breakthrough for AMS Test

Mentor DefectSim Seen as Breakthrough for AMS Test
by Mitch Heins on 11-21-2016 at 4:00 pm

For decades, digital test has been fully automated including methodologies and automation for test pattern generation, grading and test time compression. Automation for analog and mixed-signal (AMS) IC test has not however kept pace. This is troubling as according to IBSapproximately 85% of SoC design starts are now AMS designs.… Read More