Robust Reliability Verification: Beyond Traditional Tools and Techniques

Robust Reliability Verification: Beyond Traditional Tools and Techniques
by SStalnaker on 05-31-2013 at 7:10 pm

Robust Reliability Verification: Beyond Traditional Tools
by Matthew Hogan, Mentor Graphics

At all process nodes, countless hours are diligently expended to ensure that our integrated circuit (IC) designs will function in the way we intended, can be manufactured with satisfactory yields, and are delivered in a timely fashion… Read More


Bats about DAC!

Bats about DAC!
by SStalnaker on 05-23-2013 at 8:05 pm

DAC 2013 is closing in fast now…and if you haven’t made your plans for what you want to see and do, you’d better get going! Of course, I’m happy to help you out with a few suggestions…starting with that most important objective—conference swag. Stop by the Mentor Graphics booth (#2046, for those of you who actually look at your floor… Read More


Chasing DP Rabbits

Chasing DP Rabbits
by SStalnaker on 04-15-2013 at 4:00 pm

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
—Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

The use of stitching can greatly reduce the number of double patterning (DP) decomposition violations that a designer has to resolve.… Read More


First Time, Every Time

First Time, Every Time
by SStalnaker on 01-21-2013 at 7:10 pm

While this iconic advertising phrase was first used to describe the ink reliability of a ballpoint pen, it perfectly summarizes the average consumer’s attitude toward automobile reliability as well. We don’t really care how it’s done, as long as everything in our car works first time, every time. Even when that includes heated… Read More


Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!
by SStalnaker on 12-21-2012 at 8:00 pm

I have no idea if chicken was actually on the menu, but on December 12, Calibre RealTime picked up its thirdindustry award, this time the 2012 Elektra Award for Design Tools and Development Software from the European Electronics Industry. Calibre RealTime came out on top in a group full of prestigious finalists, including ByteSnap,Read More


Double Patterning Exposed!

Double Patterning Exposed!
by SStalnaker on 12-04-2012 at 7:15 pm

Wanna become the double patterning guru at your company? David Abercrombie, DFM Program Manager for Calibre, has written a series of articles detailing the multifaceted impacts of double patterning on advanced node design and verification. For designers struggling to understand the complexity and nuances of double patterning,Read More


Automating Complex Circuit Checking Tasks

Automating Complex Circuit Checking Tasks
by SStalnaker on 09-20-2012 at 7:24 pm

By Hend Wagieh, Mentor Graphics

At advanced IC technology nodes, circuit designers are now encountering problems such as reduced voltage supply headroom, increased wiring parasitic resistance (Rp) and capacitance (Cp), more restrictive electromigration (EM) rules, latch-up, and electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage,… Read More


Advanced Memory Cell Characterization with Calibre xACT 3D

Advanced Memory Cell Characterization with Calibre xACT 3D
by SStalnaker on 01-12-2012 at 7:18 pm

Advanced process technologies for manufacturing computer chips enable more functionality, higher performance, and low power through smaller sizes. Memory bits on a chip are predicted to double every two years to keep up with the demand for increased performance.

To meet these new requirements for performance and power, memory… Read More


Reducing the Need for Guardbanding Flash ADC Designs

Reducing the Need for Guardbanding Flash ADC Designs
by SStalnaker on 11-22-2011 at 7:59 pm

Flash analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are commonly used in high-frequency applications such as satellite communications, sampling oscilloscopes, and radar detection. Flash ADC is preferred over other ADC architectures because it is extremely fast and quite simple. However, flash ADC typically requires twice as many… Read More