When I think about servers and data centers, I think about multiple-core/high-power CPUs, Intel’s domination over the years and GPUs coming on strong in recent years. I think about very fast digital interfaces, such as PCI Express connections and the latest DDR memory interface. Precision analog isn’t something that first comes… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
A Brief History of Perforce
In 2020 Perforce acquired Methodics, a provider of IP Lifecycle Management (IPLM) tools, and Daniel Nenni blogged about that in July 2020, but a lot has happened since Perforce was founded in 1995. In the beginning Christopher Seiwald founded Perforce in his Alameda basement based on his background as a software developer, and… Read More
Probing UPF Dynamic Objects
UPF was created to go beyond what HDL can do for managing on-chip power. HDLs are agnostic when it comes to dealing with supply & ground connections, power domains, level shifters, retention and other power management related elements of SoCs. UPF fills the breach allowing designers to specify in detail what parts of the design… Read More
Register Automation for a DDR PHY Design
Several months ago, I interviewed Anupam Bakshi, the CEO and founder of Agnisys. I wanted to learn more about the company, so I listened to a webinar that covered their latest products and how they fit together into an automated flow. I posted my thoughts and then I became curious about their customers, so I asked Anupam to arrange … Read More
Change Management for Functional Safety
By now we’re pretty familiar with the requirements ISO 26262 places on development for automotive safety. The process, procedures and metrics you will apply to meet various automotive safety integrity levels (ASIL). You need to train organizations. In fact you should establish a safety culture across the whole company or line… Read More
System-level Electromagnetic Coupling Analysis is now possible, and necessary
With the increasing density of electronics in product enclosures, combined with a broad range of operating frequencies, designers must be cognizant of the issues associated with the radiation and coupling of electromagnetic energy. The interference between different elements of the design may result in coupling noise-induced… Read More
Calibre DFM Adds Bidirectional DEF Integration
GDS and LEF/DEF each came about to support data exchange in different types of design flows, custom layout and place & route respectively. GDS (or stream format) was first created in the late 1970s to support the first generation of custom IC layout tools, such as Calma’s GDSII system. Of course, the GDS format has been updated… Read More
HCL Provides an On-Ramp to the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud for HCL Compass
Last August I detailed a webinar about HCL Compass, a tool that provides low-code/no-code change management capability for enterprise scaling, process customization and control to accelerate project delivery and increase developer productivity. There is a lot of activity these days to migrate various enterprise applications… Read More
The Question That Has Guided My Analog Mixed Signal Career
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting at lunch with good friend Scott Santandrea, explaining my struggles to get traction with the sales channel for the Analog to Digital Converter product line I was managing. My business line had been spending a lot of resources developing high-performance 24-bit delta sigma and 20-bit
2020 Retrospective. Innovation in Verification
Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Jim Hogan and I launched our series on Innovation in Verification at the beginning of last year. We wanted to explore basic innovations and new directions researchers are taking for hardware and system verification. Even we were surprised to find how rich a seam we had tapped. We plan… Read More
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