Regardless of where you grew up you probably know the story of Alice in Wonderland. The story is over 100 years old, but holds up to the present day, thanks in part to some magic from Disney. It evokes visions of a place that elicits admiration and wonder, to create a place of magical charm. In the context of AI, it takes on a more relevant… Read More
Artificial Intelligence
Synopsys Panel Updates on the State of Multi-Die Systems
Synopsys recently hosted a cross-industry panel on the state of multi-die systems which I found interesting not least for its relevance to the rapid acceleration in AI-centric hardware. More on that below. Panelists, all with significant roles in multi-die systems, were Shekhar Kapoor (Senior Director of Product Management,… Read More
Long-standing Roadblock to Viable L4/L5 Autonomous Driving and Generative AI Inference at the Edge
Two recent software-based algorithmic technologies –– autonomous driving (ADAS/AD) and generative AI (GenAI) –– are keeping the semiconductor engineering community up at night.
While ADAS at Level 2 and Level 3 are on track, AD at Levels 4 and 5 are far from reality, causing a drop in venture capital enthusiasm and money. Today,… Read More
Synopsys – TSMC Collaboration Unleashes Innovation for TSMC OIP Ecosystem
As the focal point of the TSMC OIP ecosystem, TSMC has been driving important initiatives over the last few years to bring multi-die systems to the mainstream. As the world is moving quickly toward Generative AI technology and AI-based systems, multi-die and chiplet-based implementations are becoming essential. TSMC recently… Read More
Can Generative AI Recharge Phone Markets?
Consensus on smartphone markets hovers somewhere between slight decline and slight growth indicating lack of obvious drivers for more robust growth. As a business opportunity this unappealing state is somewhat offset by sheer volume ($500B in 2023 according to one source) but we’re already close to peak adoption outside of … Read More
McKinsey & Company Shines a Light on Domain Specific Architectures
When we hear McKinsey & Company, we may think of one of the “Big Three” management consultancies. While that’s true, this firm has a reach and impact that goes far beyond management consulting. According to its website, the firm accelerates sustainable and inclusive growth. While this is an inspirational statement, the… Read More
Transformers Transforming the Field of Computer Vision
Over the last few years, transformers have been fundamentally changing the nature of deep learning models, revolutionizing the field of artificial intelligence. Transformers introduce an attention mechanism that allows models to weigh the importance of different elements in an input sequence. Unlike traditional deep learning… Read More
Assertion Synthesis Through LLM. Innovation in Verification
Assertion based verification is a very productive way to catch bugs, however assertions are hard enough to write that assertion-based coverage is not as extensive as it could be. Is there a way to simplify developing assertions to aid in increasing that coverage? Paul Cunningham (Senior VP/GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl … Read More
Fast Path to Baby Llama BringUp at the Edge
Tis the season for transformer-centric articles apparently – this is my third within a month. Clearly this is a domain with both great opportunities and challenges: extending large language model (LLM) potential to new edge products and revenue opportunities, with unbounded applications and volumes yet challenges in meeting… Read More
Cadence Tensilica Spins Next Upgrade to LX Architecture
When considering SoC architectures it is easy to become trapped in simple narratives. These assume the center of compute revolves around a central core or core cluster, typically Arm, more recently perhaps a RISC-V option. Throw in an accelerator or two and the rest is detail. But for today’s competitive products that view is a … Read More
5 Expectations for the Memory Markets in 2025