One of my favorite EDA disruptions is the Siemens acquisition of Mentor, pure genius. Joe Sawicki now runs the Mentor IC EDA business for Siemens so we will be seeing him at more conferences and events than ever before. Joe did a very nice keynote at the recent U2U conference that I would like to talk about before we head to the 56thDAC… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
The IoT will meet 5G soon, but not with the old SIM cards
By now you have probably realized that 5G is a lot more than an incremental change from previous 3G and 4G cellular technology. For instance, 5G will be used to connect our phones in completely new ways, such as with microcells in urban areas using mm-wavelength signals. 5G will also include two low power protocols that are intended… Read More
56thDAC ClioSoft Excitement
As the number one 56thDAC supporting portal we will publish what’s happening in the conference, on the exhibit floor, and outside activities. The SemiWiki bloggers will be out in full force with live coverage and behind the scenes looks. Remember, SemiWiki bloggers are actual semiconductor professionals with hundreds… Read More
Getting to EMC Compliance by Design
At the risk of highlighting my abundant lack of expertise in the domain, I had always viewed EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) compliance and testing as one of those back-end exercises that can only be done on the real device and depends on a combination of expertise and brute-force in chip/package/module/system design (decaps,… Read More
Achieving a Predictable SignOff in 7nm
Designing with advanced-nodes FinFETs such as 7nm node involves a more complex process than prior nodes. As secondary physical effects are no longer negligible, the traditional margin-based approach applied at various design abstraction levels is considered ineffective. Coupled with the increase of device counts, failing… 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
Webinar: ISO 26262 Compliance
To me the major idea of ISO 26262 compliance is ensuring that requirements can be traced throughout the entire design and verification process, including the use of IP blocks. The first market application that comes to mind with ISO 26262 is automotive, with its emphasis on safety because human lives are at stake. Since necessity… Read More
Complex Validation Requires Scalable Measures
The famous Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is the Latin words for “Faster, Higher, Stronger” to a considerable degree can be adapted to our electronics industry. Traditionally the fundamental metrics we used for measuring the quality of results (QoRs) are performance, power, and area (PPA). Amidst… Read More
Free Webinar: Analog Verification with Monte Carlo, PVT Corners and Worst-Case Analysis
The letters “PVT” roll of the tongue easily enough, belying the complexity that variations in process, temperature and voltage can cause for analog designs. For semiconductor processes, there are dozens of parameters that can affect the viability of a design. It would be easy enough to optimize a circuit with only one or two varying… Read More
Musk’s new job as Samsung Fab Manager – Can he disrupt chip making? Intel outside