Synopsys Earnings Call

Synopsys Earnings Call
by Paul McLellan on 05-27-2015 at 12:00 am

Synopsys had their earnings announcement and call last week. They were good. In Aart’s own words:I’m happy to report that our second quarter results were very strong and solidify our outlook for the full year. We delivered revenue of $557 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.68 and $155 million in operation cash flow.Read More


How Good Is Your Library? Are You Sure?

How Good Is Your Library? Are You Sure?
by Paul McLellan on 05-26-2015 at 7:00 am

 

One task that is not very exciting but is critical is that of library quality assurance. Many design groups have created their own procedures, often having been burned in the past, to ensure that the libraries that they use are good. Failure to do so has resulted in:… Read More


eSilicon Lyfts Its Game

eSilicon Lyfts Its Game
by Paul McLellan on 05-24-2015 at 3:00 am

We have got used to services like Uber and Lyft (at least in cities that are not so anti-consumer as to ban them, I’m looking at you New York. Et vous Paris). But in most of the semiconductor world we are still stuck standing at the side of the road waving our hand helplessly in the hope that the light on that taxi is actually on. Leading… Read More


Flash Automobiles

Flash Automobiles
by Paul McLellan on 05-22-2015 at 7:00 am

Building flash memory for automotive is not straightforward. Just look at the specs you have to meet for grade 1 qualification:

  • 100,000 cycles of endurance (writing new values)
  • 10 years data retention
  • all at 125°C (also needs to work down to -40°C)

GlobalFoundries have been working with Silicon Storage Technology (which is a wholly-owned… Read More


OneSpin Launchpad, the App Store for Formal Verification

OneSpin Launchpad, the App Store for Formal Verification
by Paul McLellan on 05-21-2015 at 7:00 am

Formal verification is qualitatively different from most other verification. A simulation can pass or fail. But while formal verification can prove that the circuit is correct, or incorrect, it can also return “not proven” which means either that the algorithms realized that they were not powerful enough to prove… Read More


Ten Things to Do in San Francisco the Way the Locals Do

Ten Things to Do in San Francisco the Way the Locals Do
by Paul McLellan on 05-19-2015 at 7:00 am

DAC is in San Francisco, of course, and perhaps you have a day or two to do explore the city. Guidebooks will tell you to visit most of these places but there are much better ways to see them than they typically recommend. Follow these instructions and pretend you are a local.

1. Ride a Cable Car. But don’t wait in line for 45 minutes at Union… Read More


FD-SOI the Synapse Way

FD-SOI the Synapse Way
by Paul McLellan on 05-18-2015 at 7:00 am

Last week I talked to Marco Brambilla of Synapse Design. Synapse is a design services company headquartered in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 2003 by Satish Bagalkotkar and has been profitable since the beginning. Today it has over 700 people. In addition to the headquarters in Santa Clara, they have a software group in Colorado,… Read More


EDAC Game of Thrones: Bob Smith is the New Executive Director

EDAC Game of Thrones: Bob Smith is the New Executive Director
by Paul McLellan on 05-15-2015 at 7:00 am

Bob Smith has been appointed executive director of EDAC, following the retirement of Bob Gardner after nearly 20 years. Bob (Smith) was most recently the marketing and business development VP for Uniquify. However, he has been in the industry for a long time with stints at IKOS, Synopsys, LogicVision and Magma. He has even been … Read More


Intel and eASIC: Marriage or Just Good Friends?

Intel and eASIC: Marriage or Just Good Friends?
by Paul McLellan on 05-14-2015 at 7:00 am

A couple of days ago Intel announced a collaboration with eASIC. Here is the opening paragraph of the press release:Intel Corporation today announced plans to develop integrated products with eASIC Corporation that combine processing performance and customizable hardware to meet the increasing demand for custom compute Read More


"An art can only be learned in the workshop of those who are winning their bread by it"

"An art can only be learned in the workshop of those who are winning their bread by it"
by Paul McLellan on 05-13-2015 at 7:00 am

That was said by the novelist Samuel Butler, but it is not a bad description of why you should spend the Sunday at DAC in one of the workshops that are taking place that day.

One workshop is on Design Automation for Beyond CMOS Technologies. Before getting to design automation, it is good to start with which technologies are potentially… Read More