Author: Tom Simon

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Machine Learning in EDA Flows – Solido DAC Panel

Machine Learning in EDA Flows – Solido DAC Panel
by Tom Simon on 07-12-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: AI, EDA, Events, Solido

At DAC this year you could learn a lot about hardware design for AI or Machine Learning (ML) applications. We are all familiar with the massively parallel hardware being developed for autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, search engines and the like. This includes, for instance, hardware from Nvidia and others that enable ML … Read More

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Embedded FPGA’s create new IP category

Embedded FPGA’s create new IP category
by Tom Simon on 07-07-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: Achronix, eFPGA, Events, FPGA, IP
2 Comments

FPGA’s are the new superstar in the world of Machine Learning and Cloud Computing, and with new methods of implementing them in SOC’s there will be even more growth ahead. FPGA’s started out as a cost effective method for implementing logic without having to spin an ASIC or gate array. With the advent of the web and high performance… Read More

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Memories for the Internet

Memories for the Internet
by Tom Simon on 06-29-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: eSilicon, IP, Semiconductor Services
8 Comments

In 1969 the Internet was born at UCLA when a computer there sent a message to a computer at Stanford. By 1975, there were 57 computers on the ‘internet’. Interestingly in the early seventies I actually used the original Xerox Sigma 7 connected to the internet in Boelter Hall at UCLA. A similar vintage computer is now in this room commemorating… Read More

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Understanding Sources of Clock Jitter Critical for SOC’s

Understanding Sources of Clock Jitter Critical for SOC’s
by Tom Simon on 05-29-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: IP, Silicon Creations
2 Comments

Jitter issues in SOC’s reside at the crossroads of analog and digital design. Digital designers would prefer to live in a world of clocks that are free from jitter effects. At the same time, analog designers can build PLL’s that are precise and finely tuned. However, when a perfectly working PLL is inserted into an SOC, things can … Read More

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Webinar – Low Power Circuit Sizing for IoT

Webinar – Low Power Circuit Sizing for IoT
by Tom Simon on 05-19-2017 at 7:00 am
Categories: EDA, Events, IoT, MunEDA

Optimizing analog designs has always been a difficult and tricky process. Designing for IoT applications has only made this more difficult with the added importance of minimizing power. Unlike other circuit parameters, it is not easy to specify power as a design goal when using equations. Power is a resultant property and must… Read More

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Building Better Digital Content Protection

Building Better Digital Content Protection
by Tom Simon on 05-15-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: IP, Synopsys

Back in college my roommates figured out that the TV cable coax wire was still connected to our apartment. As a result, I was able to watch the Richard Pryor movie Silver Streak about 30 times without a cable box, however the screen was partially jumbled from the simple content protection used back then. This was possible by aggressively… Read More

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We Need Libraries – Lots of Libraries

We Need Libraries – Lots of Libraries
by Tom Simon on 05-08-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: EDA, Solido

It was inevitable that machine learning (ML) would come to EDA. In fact, it has already been here a while in Solido’s variation tools. Now it has found an even more compelling application – library characterization. Just as ML has radically transformed other computational arenas; it looks like it will be extremely disruptive here… Read More

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It’s Time to Stop Thinking in Two Dimensions

It’s Time to Stop Thinking in Two Dimensions
by Tom Simon on 05-03-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: eSilicon, Semiconductor Services

The first transistor was made of two electrodes, held in place by plastic, making contact with a piece of doped germanium. Ever since then, devices and their packaging have been performing a complicated and oftentimes intricate dance. Single transistor devices became integrated circuits, and along the way separate IC’s were… Read More

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How Far Has Design Automation Brought Us?

How Far Has Design Automation Brought Us?
by Tom Simon on 04-21-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: EDA

It’s always a struggle explaining electronic design automation (EDA) to people who ask me what field I am in. I have come up with simple and minimal descriptions – such as “software used for designing semiconductors.” This, of course, does little to provide any useful understanding to people who are not familiar with the field.… Read More

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Making Cars Smarter And Safer

Making Cars Smarter And Safer
by Tom Simon on 04-18-2017 at 12:00 pm
Categories: Arteris, Automotive, IP

The news media has naturally focused on the handful of deaths that have occurred while auto-pilot features have been enabled. In reality, automobile deaths are occurring at a lower rate now than ever. In 2014 the rate was 1.08 deaths per 100 million miles driven. Compare that to the 5.06 per 100M miles in 1960, or a whopping 24.09 in… Read More