Synchronous circuits dominate the electronic world because clocking eases the design of circuits compared to asynchronous circuits. At the same time, clocking also introduces its share of challenges to overcome. No wonder, a tremendous amount of time and effort have been spent over the years on developing and implementing … Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Semifore is Supplying Pain Relief for Some World-Changing Applications
In a recent post, I discussed how Samtec is fueling the AI revolution. In that post, I talked about how smart everything seems to be everywhere, changing the way we work, the way we think about our health and ultimately improving life on the planet. These are lofty statements, but the evidence is growing that the newest wave of applications… Read More
Load-Managing Verification Hardware Acceleration in the Cloud
There’s a reason the verification hardware accelerator business is growing so impressively. Modern SoCs – now routinely multi-billion gate devices – must be verified/validated against massively demanding test plans, requiring high levels of test coverage. Use cases extend all the way up to firmware, OSes, even application… Read More
Ansys’ Emergence as a Tier 1 EDA Player— and What That Means for 3D-IC
Over its 40+ year history, electronic design automation (EDA) has seen many companies rise, fall, and merge. In the beginning, in the 1980s, the industry was dominated by what came to be known as the big three — Daisy Systems, Mentor Graphics, and Valid Logic (the infamous “DMV”). The Big 3 has morphed over the years, eventually settling… Read More
Finally, A Serious Attack on Debug Productivity
Verification technologies have progressed in almost all domains over the years. We’re now substantially more productive in creating tests for block, SoC and hybrid software/hardware verification. These tests provide better coverage through randomization and formal modeling. And verification engines are faster – substantially… Read More
Advanced EM simulations target conducted EMI and transients
A vital benefit of advanced EM simulations is their ability to take on complicated physical test setups, substituting far easier virtual tests yielding accurate results earlier during design activities. The latest release of Keysight PathWave ADS 2023 continues speeding up engineering workflows. Let’s look at three… Read More
Three Ways to Meet Manufacturing Rules in Advanced Package Designs
Often designers are amazed at the diversity of requirements fabricators and manufacturers have for metal filled areas in advanced package designs. Package fabricators and manufacturers do not like solid metal planes or large metal areas. Their strict metal fill requirements address two main issues. The dielectric and metal… Read More
Machine Learning in the Fab at #59DAC
It used to be true that a foundry or fab would create a set of DRC files, provide them to designers, and then the process yield would be acceptable, however if the foundry knows more details about the physical implementation of IC designs then they can improve the yield. Using a digital twin of the design, process and metrology steps… Read More
Connecting SystemC to SystemVerilog
Siemens EDA is clearly on a mission to help verifiers get more out of their tools and methodologies. Recently they published a white paper on UVM polymorphism. Now they have followed with a paper on using UVM Connect, re-introducing how to connect between SystemC and SystemVerilog. I’m often mystified by seemingly overlapping… Read More
Webinar: Semifore Offers Three Perspectives on System Design Challenges
The exponential increase in design complexity is a popular topic these days. In fact, it’s been a topic of discussion for a very long time. The explosion of chip and system design complexity over the past ten years has become legendary and haunts many of us daily. A lot of the complexity we face has to do with coordinating across an ever-increasing… Read More
TSMC N3 Process Technology Wiki