One of the best things about being part of SemiWiki is the exposure to new technologies and the people behind them. SemiWiki now works with more than 35 companies and I get to spend time with each and every one of them. Much like I do, IROC Technologies works closely with the foundries and the top semiconductor companies so it was a pleasure… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Interview with Forte CTO John Sanguinetti on Cynthesizer 5
Recently, Forte Design Systems announced the release of a new core engine to their popular high-level synthesis tool offering. It is a large undertaking, so I asked John Sanguinetti, Forte’s CTO, to answer some questions about that development effort.
Q. How long has it been since the last major upgrade of the Cynthesizer… Read More
Avoiding layout related variability issues
In advanced process technologies, electrical and timing problems due to variability can become a big issue. Due to various processing effects, a circuit performance (both speed and power) is dependent on specific layout attributes and can vary a lot from instance to instance. The accumulated effects can be severe to the point… Read More
Heart of Technology Heads to DAC in Austin
With the support of the Heart of Technology, one of the big events this year at DAC will be the Kickin’ It Up in Austin celebration on June 3, at the amazing, world famous Austin City Limits Live! The event starts at 8:00 PM, runs until 1:00 AM and features three bands – 9-time Grammy winner Asleep at the Wheel; Vista Roads, an industry… Read More
DAC50 App for iPhone Now Available
This year’s version of Bill Deegan’s DAC App for iPhone is now available for download from the iTunes App Store. The App has the entire calendar included, and makes it easy to add any interesting looking event to your calendar. The whole exhibit hall can be searched and there is a zoomable map of the exhibit hall.
I have… Read More
Bringing Sanity to Analog IC Design Verification
Two weeks ago I blogged about analog verification and it started a discussion with 16 comments, so l’ve found that our readers have an interest in this topic. For decades now the Digital IC design community has used and benefited from regression testing as a way to measure both design quality and progress, ensuring that first… Read More
PinPoint in Practice
I talked with a mystery person earlier this week. I would love to tell you his (or her) name and the company he (or she) works for but they are the sort of company that doesn’t casually endorse any suppliers so it all has to remain anonymous. But they have been a customer of Pinpoint, originally from Tuscany Design Automation until… Read More
Do my tests certify the quality of my products?
Honestly speaking, there is no firm answer to this question, and often when we get confronted by our customers, we talk about the coverage reports. The truth is a product with high rate of coverage can very easily fail in customer environment. Of course coverage is important, and to be clear about the fact that the failure is not because… Read More
It’s all in the details of FPGA requirements management
Word association: if I said “requirements management”, you’d probably say IBM Rational “DOORS,” or maybe Serena or Polarion if you come from the IT world. But what if the requirements you need to manage are for an FPGA or ASIC, with HDL and testbench code and waveform files and more details backing verification, and compliance… Read More
Bats about DAC!
DAC 2013 is closing in fast now…and if you haven’t made your plans for what you want to see and do, you’d better get going! Of course, I’m happy to help you out with a few suggestions…starting with that most important objective—conference swag. Stop by the Mentor Graphics booth (#2046, for those of you who actually look at your floor… Read More
Memory Innovation at the Edge: Power Efficiency Meets Green Manufacturing