The tremendous increase in global data traffic over the past decade shows no sign of abating. Indeed, the applications for all facets of data communications are expanding, from 5G (and soon, 6G) wireless communications to metropolitan area networks serving autonomous vehicles to broader deployment of machine learning algorithms. … Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Cybersecurity Threat Detection and Mitigation
Every week in the technology trade press I am reading about cybersecurity attacks against web sites, apps, IoT devices, vehicles and even ICs. At the recent IP SoC Silicon Valley 2022 event in April I watched a cybersecurity presentation from Robert Rand, Solution Architect for Tessent Embedded Analytics at Siemens EDA. Common… Read More
Bringing Prototyping to the Desktop
A few months ago, I wrote about Corigine and their MimicPro FPGA prototyping system and MimicTurbo GT card solutions. That article went into the various features and benefits of the two solutions, with the requirements for next-generation prototyping solutions as the backdrop. You can access that article here. At 250+ employees,… Read More
WEBINAR: Challenges in analyzing High Performance clocks at 7nm and below process nodes
Proper clock functionality and performance are essential for SoC operation. Static timing analysis (STA) tools have served well for verifying clocks, yet with new advanced process nodes, lower operating voltages, higher clock speeds and higher reliability requirements, STA tools alone can’t perform the kinds of analysis… Read More
Designing Ultra-Low-Power, Always On IP
It’s popular to use DSP chips for vision processing in diverse applications like ADAS, security cameras and AR. Tensilica has been designing DSP chips and IP since 1997, and their technology was successful enough that Cadence acquired Tensilica back in 2013. At the IP-SoC Silicon Valley 2022 event in April I had the pleasure… Read More
Efficient Memory BIST Implementation
Test experts use the acronym BIST for Built In Self Test, it’s the test logic added to an IP block that speeds up the task of testing by creating stimulus and then looking at the output results. Memory IP is a popular category for SoC designers, as modern chips include multiple memory blocks for fast, local data and register storage… Read More
Design IP Sales Grew 19.4% in 2021, confirm 2016-2021 CAGR of 9.8%
Design IP Sales reached $5.45B in 2021, or 19.4% YoY after 16% in 2020, on-sync with semiconductor growth of 26.2% in 2021 according to WSTS. IPnest has released the “Design IP Report” in May 2022, ranking IP vendors by category (CPU, DSP, GPU & ISP, Wired Interface, SRAM Memory Compiler, Flash Memory Compiler, Library and I/O,… Read More
Tensilica Edge Advances at Linley
The Linley spring conference this year had a significant focus on AI at the edge, with all that implies. Low power/energy is a key consideration, though increasing performance demands for some applications are making this more challenging. David Bell (Product Marketing at Tensilica, Cadence) presented the Tensilica NNE110… Read More
Bigger, Faster and Better AI: Synopsys NPUs
AI-based applications are fast advancing with evolving neural network (NN) models, pushing aggressive performance envelopes. Just a few years ago, performance requirements of NN driven applications were at 1 TOPS and less. Current and future applications in the areas of augmented reality (AR), surveillance, high-end smartphones,… Read More
Future.HPC is Coming!
According to the experts, the semiconductor industry is poised for a decade of growth and is projected to become a trillion dollar industry by 2030. In 2021 the semiconductor industry finally hit $600B so $1T by 2030 seems like a big ask, but not really if you look at the indicators inside the semiconductor ecosystem. Foundries, … Read More
Memory Innovation at the Edge: Power Efficiency Meets Green Manufacturing