The Synopsys VC Formal group have a real talent for finding industry speakers to talk on illuminating outside-the-box-topics in formal verification. Not too long ago I covered an Intel talk of this kind. A recent webinar highlighted use of formal methods used together with a cool technique I have covered elsewhere called Quick… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Insights into DevOps Trends in Hardware Design
Periodically I like to check in on the unsung heroes behind the attention-grabbing world of design. I’m speaking of the people responsible for the development and deployment infrastructure on which we all depend – version control, testing, build, release – collectively known these days as DevOps (development operations). … Read More
Breakthrough Gains in RTL Productivity and Quality of Results with Cadence Joules RTL Design Studio
Register Transfer Level (RTL) is a crucial and valuable concept in digital hardware design. Over the years, it has played a fundamental role in enabling design of complex digital chips. By abstracting away implementation details and providing a clear description of digital behavior, RTL has contributed significantly to the… Read More
Cadence and AI at #60DAC
Paul Cunningham from Cadence presented at the #60DAC Pavilion and gave one of the most optimistic visions of AI applied to EDA that I’ve witnessed, so hopefully I can convey some of his enthusiasm and outright excitement in my blog report. Mr. Cunningham reviewed the various ages of EDA design with each era providing about… Read More
Qualitative Shift in RISC-V Targets Raises Verification Bar
I had grown comfortable thinking about RISC-V as a cost-saving and more flexible alternative to Intel/AMD or Arm in embedded applications. Where clearly it is already doing very well. But following a discussion with Dave Kelf and Adnan Hamid of Breker, RISC-V goals have become much more ambitious, chasing the same big system applications… Read More
Automated Code Review. Innovation in Verification
A little thinking outside the box this time. Microsoft is adding automation to their (and LinkedIn) code reviews; maybe we should consider this option also? Paul Cunningham (Senior VP/GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO and now Silvaco CTO) and I continue our series… Read More
Xcelium Safety Certification Rounds Out Cadence Safety Solution
While fully autonomous driving may now be a distant dream, ADAS continues to be a very active industry driver as much for its safety advantages as for other features. Today in the hierarchy of SAE levels, SAE 2+ may represent the most active area of development rather than levels 3 through 5. This range of options still requires a human… Read More
Breker’s Maheen Hamid Believes Shared Vision Unifying Factor for Business Success
Maheen Hamid, a member of the ESD Alliance (a SEMI Technology Community) Governing Council and a member of SEMI’s North America Advisory Board, is an astute business executive. Together with her husband Adnan Hamid, they founded Breker Verification Systems, a company developing test synthesis solutions. She serves today … Read More
Altair’s Jim Cantele Predicts the Future of Chip Design
We all know chip design is changing in substantial ways and at a fast pace. The demands being placed on semiconductor systems are growing dramatically, and the innovation being delivered to address those demands is just as dramatic. Everyone seems to have an opinion on these trends, and a set of predications to make sense out of it… Read More
Convergence Between EDA and MCAD and Industrial Software
Cadence hosted a panel at DAC on how EDA, MCAD and industrial software have come together, a topic I always find interesting. Many years ago, I worked on a NAVAIR contract bid team, an eye-opener for a young engineer who thought that innovation started and ended with electronic design. I remember CATIA (3D modeling) being a component… Read More
Intel Ushers a New Era of Advanced Packaging with Glass Substrates