How does TensorFlow Lite on Tensilica HiFi DSP IP Sound?

How does TensorFlow Lite on Tensilica HiFi DSP IP Sound?
by Tom Simon on 04-22-2020 at 6:00 am

TensorFlow Lite Needed for Audio

In all the hubbub about AI/ML, it’s easy to see why visual ML gets more attention. It’s got appeal because of applications such as autonomous driving. Because of this it’s easy to overlook the importance of audio ML. I own a Tesla and putting it into autopilot is very cool, but even it has voice recognition built in as an important feature… Read More


Webinar on Transient Simulation of Power Transistors in Converter Circuits

Webinar on Transient Simulation of Power Transistors in Converter Circuits
by Tom Simon on 04-13-2020 at 6:00 am

PTM TR high side low side currents 300x182 1

Magwel is offering a webinar that takes a deeper look at how Power Transistors can be more accurately simulated in converter circuits to provide extremely accurate information about switching efficiency. DC converter circuit efficiency has a big effect on the battery life of mobile devices and can affect performance and efficiency… Read More


Learning to Live with the Gaps Between Design and Verification

Learning to Live with the Gaps Between Design and Verification
by Tom Simon on 04-09-2020 at 6:00 am

Learning to live with the gaps between design and verification

Whenever I am asked to explain how chip design works by someone who is unfamiliar with the process, I struggle to explain the different steps in the flow. It also makes me aware of the discrete separations between each phase of activities. Of course, when you speak to a novice it is not even possible to get more than one layer down in the… Read More


Webinar on Detecting Security Vulnerabilities in SoCs

Webinar on Detecting Security Vulnerabilities in SoCs
by Tom Simon on 04-06-2020 at 10:00 am

Secure development Lifecycle for SOCs

As more security related capabilities are added in hardware it is changing the effort required to ensure that SoCs are not prone to attack. Hardware has the initial appeal of creating physical barriers to attack, yet it presents its own difficulties. For one thing, a flaw in a hardware security feature is much harder to fix in the … Read More


Webinar on eNVM Choices at 28nm and below by Globalfoundries

Webinar on eNVM Choices at 28nm and below by Globalfoundries
by Tom Simon on 03-31-2020 at 10:00 am

eFLASH Replacement MRAM

Embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) plays an essential role in most systems and SoCs. eFLASH has found its way into a wide range of devices, including automotive, industrial, IoT and those in a mixture of other markets. NAND Flash has proven to be a workhorse in all of these areas. For instance, MCUs use them for code and data storage… Read More


Webinar on Tools and Solutions for Analog IP Migration

Webinar on Tools and Solutions for Analog IP Migration
by Tom Simon on 03-17-2020 at 10:00 am

MunEDA flow for analog design porting

The commonly advanced reason for IP reuse is lower cost and shorter development time. However, IP reuse presents its own challenges, especially for analog designs. In the case of digital designs, once a new standard cell library is available, it is usually not too hard to resynthesize RTL to create new working silicon. For analog… Read More


Mentor Helps Mythic Implement Analog Approach to AI

Mentor Helps Mythic Implement Analog Approach to AI
by Tom Simon on 02-27-2020 at 6:00 am

Mythic AMS Verification Challenges

The entire field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has resulted from what is called “first principles thinking”, where problems are re-examined using a complete reassessment of the underlying issues and potential solutions. It is a testament to how effective this can be that AI is being used for a rapidly expanding number of applications… Read More


Webinar – FPGA Native Block Floating Point for Optimizing AI/ML Workloads

Webinar – FPGA Native Block Floating Point for Optimizing AI/ML Workloads
by Tom Simon on 02-25-2020 at 10:00 am

block float example

Block floating point (BFP) has been around for a while but is just now starting to be seen as a very useful technique for performing machine learning operations. It’s worth pointing out up front that bfloat is not the same thing. BFP combines the efficiency of fixed point operations and also offers the dynamic range of full floating… Read More


Webinar on Concurrent Electro-Thermal Analysis for PowerMOS Devices to Improve Performance and Reliability

Webinar on Concurrent Electro-Thermal Analysis for PowerMOS Devices to Improve Performance and Reliability
by Tom Simon on 02-20-2020 at 10:00 am

PTM-ET Sidecut view

PowerMOS devices play a major role in a variety of power converter and control circuits. Some examples of their applications include PMICs, or boost and buck converters. Often these are used in mobile and IoT devices to convert battery voltages to circuit operating voltages.

Due to their size and internal complexity PowerMOS … Read More


TinyML Makes Big Impact in Edge AI Applications

TinyML Makes Big Impact in Edge AI Applications
by Tom Simon on 02-12-2020 at 10:00 am

TimyML ECM3532 Architecture

Machine Learning (ML) has become extremely important for many computing applications, especially ones that involve interacting with the physical world. Along with this trend has come the development of many specialized ML processors for cloud and mobile applications. These chips work fine in the cloud or even in cars or phones,… Read More