Cadence Acquires Forte

Cadence Acquires Forte
by Paul McLellan on 02-05-2014 at 4:46 pm


Cadence today announced that it is acquiring Forte Design Systems. Forte was the earliest of the high-level synthesis (HLS) companies. There were earlier products. Synopsys had Behavioral Compiler and Cadence had a product whose name I forget (Visual Architect?), but both products were too early and were canceled. Cadence … Read More


The Great Wall of TSMC

The Great Wall of TSMC
by Paul McLellan on 02-03-2014 at 5:27 pm

TSMC doesn’t just sell wafers, it sells trust. It’s the Colgate Ring of Confidence for fabless customers. This focus on trust started at the very beginning when Morris Chang founded TSMC over 25 years ago, and still today trust remains an essential part of their business.

When TSMC started, the big thing it brought … Read More


Jasper Goes to DVCon

Jasper Goes to DVCon
by Paul McLellan on 02-02-2014 at 6:00 pm

As usual, since they are firmly in the verification space, Jasper will have a number of things going on at DVCon 2014 which is March 3-6th at the Doubletree in San Jose. In the exhibition hall they are at booth #402.

Jasper will be happy to talk to you about anything, I’m sure, but the focus this year is on the JasperGold Security… Read More


PreEDAC Mixer

PreEDAC Mixer
by Paul McLellan on 02-02-2014 at 11:00 am

Get together with your fellow industry peers and insiders at the monthly EDAC Mixer, to the benefit of local charities. You don’t need to donate anything, you just show up and pay for your own drinks. A portion of the proceeds will go to local charities, this month to the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF), a volunteer… Read More


How Do You Verify a NoC?

How Do You Verify a NoC?
by Paul McLellan on 01-31-2014 at 6:01 pm

Networks-on-chip (NoCs) are very configurable, arguably the most configurable piece of IP that you can put on a chip. The only thing that comes close are highly configurable extensible VLIW processors such as those from Tensilica (Cadence), ARC (Synopsys) and CEVA but Sonics would argue their NoCs are even more flexible. But … Read More


First Verdi Interoperability Apps Developer Forum

First Verdi Interoperability Apps Developer Forum
by Paul McLellan on 01-30-2014 at 11:47 am

Way back when SpringSoft was still SpringSoft and not Synopsys they launched Verdi Interoperability Apps (VIA) and an exchange for users to share them open-source style. I wrote about it back in 2011 when it was announced. Today, Synopsys announced the first developer forum for VIA. It will be held at SNUG on Wednesday, March 26,… Read More


Wanna Build a Bitcoin Miner: GlobalFoundries Will Manufacture it For You

Wanna Build a Bitcoin Miner: GlobalFoundries Will Manufacture it For You
by Paul McLellan on 01-30-2014 at 11:00 am

You may know a bit about Bitcoin, the digital currency. One part of the system is “mining” new bitcoins, analogous to mining new gold when we were on the gold standard, creating “money” out of thin air but at a cost of doing the actual mining.

Here is an interesting aside. When I lived in France the father of… Read More


A Brief History of Qualcomm

A Brief History of Qualcomm
by Paul McLellan on 01-29-2014 at 12:48 pm

Qualcomm is the largest fabless semiconductor company in the world. If you have a smarphone there is a good chance you have a Qualcomm chip in your pocket. It is headquartered in San Diego with offices pretty much everywhere.

Qualcomm’s roots are in Linkabit, which was founded by Irwin Jacobs and Andrew Viterbi. They, along with … Read More


The Biggest Supplier in the Biggest Mobile Market is a Company You Have Never Heard Of

The Biggest Supplier in the Biggest Mobile Market is a Company You Have Never Heard Of
by Paul McLellan on 01-29-2014 at 10:05 am

If you live in the bay area it is easy to come to the conclusion that Apple has huge market share and is in a very strong position in the mobile market. Everyone has an iPhone.

But the truth is less flattering. Yes, Apple continues to make large profits and it made record iPhone shipments. However, only 51M and Wall Street expected nearly… Read More


CDNLive World Tour

CDNLive World Tour
by Paul McLellan on 01-28-2014 at 11:00 pm

CDNLive is becoming a real worldwide event, starting in March in San Jose and ending in November in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The complete schedule is:

  • March 11-12th, Santa Clara, California
  • May 19th-21st, Munich, Germany
  • July 15th, Seoul, Korea
  • August 15th, Shanghai, China
  • August 7th, Hsinchu, Taiwan
  • August 11-12th, Bangalore, India
Read More