SLAM – simultaneous localization and mapping – is critical for mobile robotics and VR/AR headsets among other applications, all of which typically operate indoors where GPS or inertial measurement units are either ineffective or insufficiently accurate. SLAM is a chicken and egg problem in which the system needs to map its environment… Read More
Artificial Intelligence
#56DAC – Machine Learning and its impact on the Digital Design Engineer
Tuesday for lunch at #56DAC I caught up to the AI/ML experts at the panel discussion hosted by Cadence. Our moderator was the affable and knowledgable Prof. Andrew Kahng from UC San Diego. Attendance was good, and interest was quite high as measured by the number of audience questions. I learned that EDA tools that use heuristics… Read More
Will a Lack of Ethics Doom Artificial Intelligence
If there was ever a time that ethics should be formally applied to technology, it is with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence. Yet most of the big AI companies struggle with what should seem a simple task: defining ethics for the use of their products. Without the underpinnings of a moral backbone, powerful tools often become… Read More
JasperGold Gets Smarter, Faster and Easier for Signoff
Machine learning (ML) is already making its way into EDA tools and flows, but the majority of announcements have been around implementation, especially in guiding toward improved timing and area. This is a pretty obvious place to start; ML is in one sense an optimization technique, trained on prior examples, which should be able… Read More
Mentor Extends AI Footprint
Mentor are stepping up their game in AI/ML. They already had a well-established start through the Solido acquisition in Variation Designer and the ML Characterization Suite, and through Tessent Yield Insight. They have also made progress in prior releases towards supporting design for ML accelerators using Catapult HLS. Now… Read More
What are SOTIF and Fail-Operational and Does This Affect You?
Standards committees, the military and governmental organizations are drawn to acronyms as moths are drawn to a flame, though few of them seem overly concerned with the elegance or memorability of these handles. One such example is SOTIF – Safety of the Intended Function – more formally known as ISO/PAS 21448. This is a follow-on… Read More
Re Energizing Silicon Innovation
Hardware is roaring back into prominence in technology innovation, from advanced cars to robots, smart homes and smart cities, 5G communication and the burgeoning electronification of industry, medicine and utilities. While software continues to play a role, all of these capabilities depend fundamentally on advances in … Read More
Anirudh Keynote at CDNLive 2019
Anirudh Devgan (President of Cadence), gave the third keynote at CDNLive Silicon Valley this year. He has clearly become adept in this role. He has a big, but supportable vision for Cadence across markets and technologies and he’s become a master of the annual tech reveals that I usually associate with keynotes.
Anirudh opened … Read More
When Artificial Intelligence Becomes Emotionally Intelligent
“AI is the biggest risk we face as a civilization.” Words from the visionary Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. After each iteration of innovation, artificial intelligence edges closer to replicating the human brain; people fear that AI would soon steal their jobs, which has already started happening in some parts of the world. Yet, humans … Read More
Blockchain and AI A Perfect Match?
Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence are two of the hottest technology trends right now. Even though the two technologies have highly different developing parties and applications, researchers have been discussing and exploring their combination [6].
PwC predicts that by 2030 AI will add up to $15.7 trillion to the world… Read More


The Foundry Model Is Morphing — Again