We are at a pivotal point in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), as the semiconductors and PCB systems that underpin critical technologies, such as AI, 5G, autonomous systems, and edge computing, grow increasingly complex. The traditional EDA workflow, which includes architecture design, RTL coding, simulation, layout,… Read More
Safeguard power domain compatibility by finding missing level shifters
In the realm of mixed signal design for integrated circuits (ICs), level shifters play a critical role for interfacing circuits that operate at different voltage levels. A level shifter converts signal from one voltage level to another, ensuring compatibility between components. Figure 1 illustrates a missing level shifter… Read More
Metal fill extraction: Breaking the speed-accuracy tradeoff
As semiconductor technology scales and device complexity increases, accurately modeling the parasitic effects of metal fill has become critical for circuit performance, power integrity, and reliability. Metal fill is a crucial part of the manufacturing process, ensuring uniform layer density, improving planarization,… Read More
Siemens Describes its System-Level Prototyping and Planning Cockpit
We all know semiconductor design is getting harder. Much harder when you consider the demands of AI workloads and heterogeneous integration of many chiplets in a single package. This class of system demands co-optimization across the entire design flow. For example, functional verification, thermal analysis, signal and power… Read More
Verifying Leakage Across Power Domains
IC designs need to operate reliably under varying conditions and avoid inefficiencies like leakage across power domains. But how do you verify that connections between IP blocks has been done properly? This is where reliability verification, Electrical Rule Checking (ERC) tools and dynamic simulations all come into play particularly… Read More
Going Beyond DRC Clean with Calibre DE
For advanced semiconductor designs, achieving both design rule check clean layouts and optimal electrical performance is crucial for minimizing design iterations, reducing time-to-market and ensuring product reliability. Balancing electrical performance and layout integrity is a difficult task. Achieving an optimal… Read More
Siemens Fleshes out More of their AI in Verification Story
While Cadence and Synopsys were sharing a lot of detail over the past few years about what they were doing in AI, Siemens EDA seemed content to offer a very general picture about their intentions without getting into a lot of detail. At DVCon 2025 they finally pulled back the curtain. Why wait until now to announce?
Darron May (Director… Read More
Speeding Up Physical Design Verification for AMS Designs
Custom and analog/mixed-signal IC designs have some unique IP and symmetry checking requirements for physical design. Waiting until the end of the IC layout process to verify IP instances for correctness or proper symmetry will cause project delays, so an approach to perform earlier physical verification makes more sense. … Read More
DVCon 2025: AI and the Future of Verification Take Center Stage
The 2025 Design and Verification Conference (DVCon) was a four-day event packed with insightful discussions, cutting-edge technology showcases, and thought-provoking debates. The conference agenda included a rich mix of tutorial sessions, a keynote presentation, a panel discussion, and an exhibit hall with Electronic… Read More
Unlocking the cloud: A new era for post-tapeout flow for semiconductor manufacturing
As semiconductor chips shrink and design complexity skyrockets, managing post-tapeout flow (PTOF) jobs has become one of the most compute-intensive tasks in manufacturing. Advanced computational lithography demands an enormous amount of computing power, putting traditional in-house resources to the test. Enter the … Read More