Voltage converters and regulators are a vital part of pretty much every semiconductor-based product. They play an outsized role in mobile devices such as cell phones where there are many subsystems operating at different voltages with different power needs. Many portable devices rely on Lithium Ion batteries whose output voltage… Read More
Electronic Design Automation
Bespoke Silicon is Coming, Absolutely!
It was nice to be at a live conference again. DesignCon was held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, my favorite location, which to me there was a back to normal crowd. The sessions I attended were full and the show floor was busy. Masks and vaccinations were not required, maybe that was it. Or there was a pent-up demand to get back engaged… Read More
WEBINAR: How to Improve IP Quality for Compliance
Establishing traceability is critical for many organizations — and a must for those who need to prove compliance. Too often, the compliance process is manual, leading to errors and even delays. A simple clerical mistake can invalidate results and lead to larger issues throughout the product’s lifecycle. Developing a unified,… Read More
ISO 26262: Feeling Safe in Your Self-Driving Car
The word “safety” can mean a lot of different things to different people, but it’s a word we hear frequently when the topic involves automobiles. In contrast, “functional safety” has a long-established meaning in the design of electrical and mechanical systems: an automatic protection mechanism with a predictable response … Read More
Design to Layout Collaboration Mixed Signal
When talking about today’s sophisticated advanced node designs it’s easy to first think about the digital challenges. Yet, the effort to design the needed analog and mixed signal blocks for them should not be underestimated. The need for high speed clocks, high frequency RF circuits and high bit rate IOs makes the analog portions,… Read More
Synopsys Tutorial on Dependable System Design
Synopsys hosted a tutorial on the last day of DVCon USA 2022 on design/system dependability. Which here they interpret as security, functional safety, and reliability analysis. The tutorial included talks from DARPA, AMD, Arm Research and Synopsys. DARPA and AMD talked about general directions and needs, Arm talked about their… Read More
Designing a FinFET Test Chip for Radiation Threats
Much of the technology that goes into aerospace applications is some of the most advanced technology that exists. However, these same systems must also offer the highest level of reliability in what is arguably an extremely difficult environment. For semiconductors a major environmental risk in aerospace applications are … Read More
Cadence and DesignCon – Workflows and SI/PI Analysis
DesignCon 2022 is back to a live conference, from Tuesday, April 5th through Thursday, April 7th, at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Introduction
DesignCon is a unique gathering in our industry. Its roots incorporated a focus on complex design and analysis requirements of (long-reach) high-speed interfaces. Technical… Read More
AMIQ EDA Adds Support for Visual Studio Code to DVT IDE Family
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a widely known adage across the world. Recognizing patterns and cycles becomes easier when data is presented pictorially. Naturally, data visualization technology has a long history from the early days, when people used a paper and pencil to graph data, to modern day visualization platforms.… Read More
Shift left gets a modulated signal makeover
Everyone saw Shift Left, the EDA blockbuster. Digital logic design, with perfect 1s and 0s simulated through perfect switches, shifted into a higher gear. But the dark arts – RF systems, power supplies, and high-speed digital – didn’t shift smoothly. What do these practitioners need in EDA to see more benefits from shift left? … Read More
Should Intel be Split in Half?