As semiconductor manufacturing pushes deeper into the nanometer regime, computational lithography has evolved from a supporting step into a central pillar of advanced chip design. Mask synthesis, lithography simulation, and optical proximity correction (OPC) now demand unprecedented levels of accuracy and computational… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Verification Analytics: The New Paradigm with Cogita-PRO at DVCON 2026
Cogita-PRO, developed by Vtool, introduces a transformative approach to design verification by treating it as a big data challenge rather than a traditional debugging exercise. Released in February 2026, this tool shifts the focus from manual log and waveform inspection to advanced verification analytics powered by data … Read More
Breker Hosts an Energetic Panel on Spec-Driven Verification
I was fortunate to be asked to moderate an evening panel adjacent to the first day of DVCon 2026, on AI-Driven SoC Verification starting from specs. You know my skepticism on panels, finding they rarely generate insights or controversy. This panel was quite different. Panelists were Shelley Henry (CEO, Moores Lab AI), Adnan Hamid… Read More
Formal Verification Best Practices
How do I know when my hardware design is correct and meets all of the specifications? For many years the answer was simple, simulate as much as you can in the time allowed in the schedule and then hope for the best when silicon arrives for testing. There is a complementary method for ensuring that hardware design meets the specifications… Read More
WEBINAR: Reclaiming Clock Margin at 3nm and Below
At 3nm and below, clock networks have quietly become the dominant limiter of SoC power, performance, and yield. Yet most advanced-node designs still rely on abstraction-based signoff methodologies developed when voltage headroom was generous and interconnect effects were secondary.
That assumption no longer holds
As supply… Read More
AI-Driven Automation in Semiconductor Design: The Fuse EDA AI Agent
The semiconductor industry is experiencing unprecedented growth in complexity as advanced process nodes, heterogeneous integration, and AI-driven workloads demand increasingly sophisticated chip designs. At the same time, semiconductor companies face rising design costs, increasing engineering workloads, and a shrinking… Read More
Synopsys Explores AI/ML Impact on Mask Synthesis at SPIE 2026
The SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning Symposium recently concluded. This is a popular event where leading researchers gather. Challenges such as optical and EUV lithography, patterning technologies, metrology, and process integration for semiconductor manufacturing and adjacent applications are all covered. This… Read More
Agentic AI and the Future of Engineering
Agentic AI emerges in this Synopsys Converge keynote not as a futuristic add-on, but as a practical response to the growing complexity of engineering. In the speaker’s view, the traditional way of designing chips, systems, and intelligent products is no longer sufficient for the era of physical AI. Engineers are now dealing with… Read More
WEBINAR: Outrunning the Data Wave – Why we need to keep pace with the coming 400% data surge
The semiconductor manufacturing industry has hit a new era of data intensity. We know that we need to look at alternatives to silicon and that electrical interconnects are unable to keep pace. We know we need to design more chiplets and alter microchip architecture. But how much data are we talking specifically, and how much
Ravi Subramanian on Trends that are Shaping AI at Synopsys
Right before the Synopsys Converge Keynote I caught an interview with Ravi Subramanian, Chief Product Management Officer at Synopsys, which highlights several important trends shaping the future of AI, semiconductor technology, and engineering. His discussion focuses on how the worlds of silicon design and system engineering… Read More


Breker Hosts an Energetic Panel on Spec-Driven Verification