Power Reduction Verification Techniques Highlighted by Mentor at ARM Techcon

Power Reduction Verification Techniques Highlighted by Mentor at ARM Techcon
by Tom Simon on 11-24-2015 at 4:00 pm

Power management is a perennial topic these days, and it came up in several presentations at the recent ARM Techcon in Santa Clara in mid November. The techniques covered in these talks address dynamic and static power consumption. The IEEE 1801 standard deals with specifying power design intent in Universal Power Format (UPF)… Read More


Globalfoundries 22FDX Technology Shows Advantages in PPA over 28nm Node

Globalfoundries 22FDX Technology Shows Advantages in PPA over 28nm Node
by Tom Simon on 11-20-2015 at 7:00 am

I really enjoy ARM Techcon when it rolls around every year because it has such a wide range of topics and exhibits. You can find maker gadgets, IoT information, small boards for industrial control, software development kits, semiconductor IP vendors as well as the big EDA players and foundries. This year after perusing the exhibit… Read More


Maybe Clockless Chip Design’s Time has Come

Maybe Clockless Chip Design’s Time has Come
by Tom Simon on 11-16-2015 at 4:00 pm

There have always been novel technologies vying to compete with conventional design practices. It is hit or miss on the success of these ideas. In the 90’s I recall speaking to someone who was convinced that they could effectively build computers based on multilevel logic. This, as we know did not pan out. But there have been many … Read More


When Talking About IoT, Don’t Forget Memory

When Talking About IoT, Don’t Forget Memory
by Tom Simon on 11-13-2015 at 7:00 am

Memory is a big enough topic that it has its own conference, Memcon, which recently took place in October. While I was there covering the event for SemiWiki.com I went to the TSMC talk on memory technologies for the IoT market. Tom Quan, Director of the Open Innovation Platform (OIP) at TSMC was giving the talk. IoT definitely has special… Read More


How Magwel is Tapping Tried and True Business Strategy in Targeting ESD

How Magwel is Tapping Tried and True Business Strategy in Targeting ESD
by Tom Simon on 11-02-2015 at 12:00 pm

Often when a company starts out it takes a while for it to find the sweet spot in the marketplace. Very often it is feedback from existing customers and business success that can help point the way for small companies as they grow. This is just as true in EDA as it is in retailing or consumer products. For instance, Mentor Graphics, though… Read More


How to Live with Rapid Changes During Early Development of IP

How to Live with Rapid Changes During Early Development of IP
by Tom Simon on 10-30-2015 at 4:00 pm

Best practices call for using a version control system with systematic releases when developing IP. However, in the early stages of IP development using a rigid version control system with a cumbersome release process can hinder productivity. To fully understand how this works we should start by defining what is meant when we … Read More


Why Your IP Release Methodology Can Make or Break Reuse Success

Why Your IP Release Methodology Can Make or Break Reuse Success
by Tom Simon on 10-24-2015 at 7:00 am

When the term IP first came into popular usage for IC design, it was primarily conceived as blocks of design content that were bought occasionally from external sources. A customer might use one or two in a design, and expect one delivery with perhaps some minor updates before tapeout. Over the last 18 years, this notion has changed… Read More


How Virtualization Makes Network Processor Verification Efficient

How Virtualization Makes Network Processor Verification Efficient
by Tom Simon on 10-22-2015 at 7:00 am

When Ethernet was introduced in 1983 it ran at 10Mbps and mostly relied on hubs and coaxial cable. Twelve years later a faster speed was introduced, running at 100Mbps. Since then we have seen an acceleration of new data rate introductions. According top the Ethernet Alliance, Ethernet could have 12 speeds before 2020, with 6 of … Read More


Why ARM Enabling Easy Access to Customized SOC’s Matters

Why ARM Enabling Easy Access to Customized SOC’s Matters
by Tom Simon on 10-14-2015 at 7:00 am

The introduction of the Arduino heralded the huge growth and interest in MCU based designs by people who could never before easily put together the hardware and software system required for implementation of their ideas. I remember the first time I saw the Arduino in use. I was at a talk on how a system for controlling propane jet solenoids… Read More


Processors Rule the Day

Processors Rule the Day
by Tom Simon on 10-09-2015 at 7:00 pm

It used to be that if you went to a processor conference, you could expect to spend hours listening to talks about pipelining, cache schemes and processor architecture. Well, I went to the Linley Processor Conference this week in Santa Clara and found the topics pretty compelling. Processors are in just about everything. It is easier… Read More