Mentor Offers Next Generation DFT with Streaming Scan Network

Mentor Offers Next Generation DFT with Streaming Scan Network
by Tom Simon on 11-12-2020 at 10:00 am

Streaming Scan Network

Design for test (DFT) requires a lot of up-front planning that can be difficult to alter if testing needs or performance differ from initial expectations. Hierarchical methodologies help in many ways including making it easier to reduce on chip resources such as the number of test signals. Also, hierarchical test allows for speed-ups… Read More


Aldec Adds Simulation Acceleration for Microchip FPGAs

Aldec Adds Simulation Acceleration for Microchip FPGAs
by Tom Simon on 11-10-2020 at 10:00 am

Simulation Acceleration

Despite the fact that FPGA based systems make it easy to add ‘hardware in the loop’ for verification, the benefits of HDL and gate level simulation are critical for finding and eliminating issues and bugs. The problem is that software simulators can require enormous amounts of time to run full simulations over sufficient time intervals… Read More


SkillCAD Adds Powerful Editing Commands to Virtuoso

SkillCAD Adds Powerful Editing Commands to Virtuoso
by Tom Simon on 11-02-2020 at 10:00 am

SKillCAD Creating a Metal Bus

Despite the large role of place and route in IC design, there will always be a need for custom layout design. This is particularly true in radio frequency (RF), power management (PM) and power amplifier (PA) circuits, among others. Cadence Virtuoso is by far the leading tool for creating these custom designs. Virtuoso has a sophisticated… Read More


Free Webinar on SPICE Simulation

Free Webinar on SPICE Simulation
by Tom Simon on 10-31-2020 at 10:00 am

SPICE Simulation

The world of SPICE simulators is one filled with compromises. Typically, it is possible to choose the highest accuracy and pay a performance and capacity penalty, or to choose high speed and capacity but give up accuracy in the process. Many semiconductor companies have been turning to Primarius Technologies to help escape these… Read More


Clarity 3D Transient Solver Speeds Up EMI/EMC Certification

Clarity 3D Transient Solver Speeds Up EMI/EMC Certification
by Tom Simon on 10-25-2020 at 8:00 am

Clarity 3D Transient Solver

Cadence made waves a while back with its innovative Clarity 3D Solver, a FEM solver for near field EM analysis. Now they are shaking things up with their new far field Clarity 3D Transient Solver. System level EMI and EMC analysis has often exceeded the limits of simulation tools, leading to expensive and time-consuming prototype… Read More


Webinar on Synopsys MIPI IP

Webinar on Synopsys MIPI IP
by Tom Simon on 10-19-2020 at 10:00 am

Synopsys MIPI IP

MIPI may have started out as a standard for mobile phones, but it has become very important for connecting cameras and displays in a wide range of other things such as cameras, computers, drones, VR glasses, IoT devices and cars. Along the way it has matured by adding important features to support new applications. Now when we talk… Read More


SkillCAD Layout Automation Suite has Over 120 Commands Backed by 60 Customers

SkillCAD Layout Automation Suite has Over 120 Commands Backed by 60 Customers
by Tom Simon on 09-29-2020 at 10:00 am

SkillCAD Layout Automation Suite

Cadence Virtuoso is by far the most popular layout tool for IC design. This is especially true at advanced process nodes. In my opinion one of the key reasons for this is its built-in extension language, SKILL. SKILL is a powerful tool to add time saving and customized functionality to the Virtuoso layout editor. For analog and custom… Read More


Synopsys talks about their DesignWare USB4 PHY at TSMC’s OIP

Synopsys talks about their DesignWare USB4 PHY at TSMC’s OIP
by Tom Simon on 09-25-2020 at 6:00 am

USB4 operating modes

When USB initially came out it revolutionized how peripherals connect to host systems. We all remember when Apple did away with many separate connections for mouse, keyboard, audio and more with their first computers supporting USB. USB has continued to develop more flexibility and more throughput. In 2015 Apple again introduced… Read More


Blue Cheetah Technology Catalyzes Chiplet Ecosystem

Blue Cheetah Technology Catalyzes Chiplet Ecosystem
by Tom Simon on 09-09-2020 at 6:00 am

Blue Cheetah Ecosystem

There are many reasons today for dividing up large monolithic SoCs into chiplets that are connected together inside a single package. Let’s look at just some of these reasons. Many SoCs share a common processing core with application specific interfaces and specialized processing engines. Using chiplets would mean that it is… Read More


In-Chip Monitoring Helps Manage Data Center Power

In-Chip Monitoring Helps Manage Data Center Power
by Tom Simon on 09-07-2020 at 6:00 am

in-chip sensing

Designers spend plenty of time analyzing the effects of process, voltage and temperature. But everyone knows it’s not enough to simply stop there. Operating environments are tough and have lots of limitations, especially when it comes to power consumption and thermal issues. Thermal protection and even over-voltage protections… Read More