For any given design objective, there is what we in the design automation biz preach that design teams should do, and then there’s what designs teams actually do. For some domains, the gap between these two may be larger than others, but we more or less assume that methodologies which have been around for years and are considered to… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Is there anything in VLSI layout other than “pushing polygons”? (3)
In late 1986 the Layout Project Leader of DSP96000 got married and left for a 6 months’ vacation so I inherited the biggest chip MSIL had in stock. Floorplanning such size chip was a challenge from day one. Even the 68030 SUN workstation was too slow. I started to ask around and going to demos for any other possible tool that can help me… Read More
Finding the Right Needle in the IP Haystack
As the percentage of pre-configured IP increases in semiconductors, so design teams are able to reduce design cycle times. But one of the challenges for design teams is the inability to quickly and easily find IP because it’s incorrectly classified, sat in a designer’s home directory, or it’s been put into the ‘repository’ by an… Read More
High performance processor IP targets automotive ISO 26262 applications
The reason you are seeing a lot more written about the ISO 26262 requirements for automotive electronics is, to put it bluntly, this stuff is getting real. Driver assist systems are no longer only found in the realm of Mercedes and Tesla, almost every car in every brand offers some driver assist features. However, the heavy lifting… Read More
The DIY Syndrome
When facing a new design objective, we check off all the established tools and flows we know we are going to need. For everything else, we default to an expectation that we will paper over the gaps with scripting, documentation and spreadsheets. And why not? When we don’t know what we will have to deal with, in documentation, scheduling,… Read More
VESA DSC Encoder Enables MIPI DSI to Support 4K resolutions
Some of the MIPI specifications are now massively used in mobile (smartphone), like the Multimedia related specs, Camera Serial Interface (CSI-2) and Display Serial Interface (DSI). These specifications are now adopted inautomotive infotainment systems, and augmented reality (AR)/ virtual reality (VR) devices. If you … Read More
Webinar: High-Capacity Power Signoff Using Big Data
Want to know how NVIDIA signs off on power integrity and reliability on mega-chips? Read on.
PPA over-design has repercussions in increased product cost and potential missed schedules with no guarantee of product success. Advanced SoCs pack more functionality and performance resulting in higher power density, but traditional… Read More
Webinars: Bumper Pack of AMS Webinars from ANSYS
Power integrity and reliability are just as important for AMS designs as they are for digital designs. Ansys is offering a series of five webinars on this topic, under a heading they call ANSYS in ACTION, a bi-weekly demo series from ANSYS in which an application engineer shows you how simulation can address common applications.… Read More
TSMC EDA 2.0 With Machine Learning: Are We There Yet ?
Recently we have been swamped by news of Artificial Intelligence applications in hardware and software by the increased adoption of Machine Learning (ML) and the shift of electronic industry towards IoT and automobiles. While plenty of discussions have covered the progress of embedded intelligence in product roll-outs, an… Read More
Effective Project Management of IoT Designs
ClioSoft is well known for their SoC design data management software SOS7 and more recently for their IP reuse ecosystem called designHUB. What is less known is how designHUB enables design teams to collaborate efficiently and better manage their projects by keeping everyone in sync during development. Not only does it provide… Read More


Quantum Computing Technologies and Challenges