The surge of network traffic at the data centers has driven to an increase in network bandwidth, doubling every 12-15 months according to a study conducted on Google’s data centers. The primary drivers to this uptick include the proliferation of cloud computing, more distributed storage architecture, emerging applications… Read More
Physical Verification with IC Validator
If a picture worths a thousand words, a tapeout quality SoC design with billions of polygons would compose a good book. To proofread this final design transformation format requires a foundry driven DRC/LVS signoff solution that nowadays is becoming more complex with further process scaling and shrinking pitch dimension.
Despite… Read More
Next-Generation Formal Verification
As SoC and IP designs continue to increase in complexity while schedules accelerate, verification teams are looking for methodologies to improve design confidence more quickly. Formal verification techniques provide one route to improved design confidence, and the increase in papers and interest at industry conferences… Read More
Design Compiler – Next Generation
Back in 1986, Synopsys started out with a synthesis product by name of SOCRATES, which stands for Synthesis andOptimization ofCombinatorial logic usingRule-basedAndTechnology independentExpertSystem. It is fair to say that not many designers know that was the birth name of what eventually turns out to be a very successful… Read More
Fusion Synthesis for Advanced Process Nodes
Synopsys recently unleashed Fusion Compiler™, a new RTL-to-GDSII product that enables a data-driven design implementation by revamping Design Compiler architecture and leveraging the successful Fusion Technology –seamlessly fusing the logical and physical realms to produce predictable QoR. It is a long-awaited… Read More
TSMC and Synopsys are in the Cloud!
EDA has been flirting with the cloud unsuccessfully for many years now and it really comes down to a familiar question: Who can afford to spend billions of dollars on data center security? Which is similar to the question that started the fabless transformation: Who can afford to spend billions of dollars on semiconductor manufacturing… Read More
DesignWare IP as AI Building Blocks
AI is disruptive and transformative to many status quos. Its manifestation can be increasingly seen in many business transactions and various aspects of our lives. While machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have acted as its catalysts on the software side, GPU and now ML/DL accelerators are spawning across the hardware… Read More
A Closer Look at Fusion from Synopsys at #55DAC
Synopsys is pretty well-known for their early entry into logic synthesis with the Design Compiler tool and more recent P&R tool with IC Compiler, so I met up with two folks at DAC to get a better idea of what this new Fusion technology was all about where the barriers between tools are changing. Michael Jackson and Rahul Deokar … Read More
Networking trends for Automotive ADAS Systems
From my restaurant seat today in Lake Oswego, Oregon I watched as an SUV driver backed out and nearly collided with a parked car, so I wanted to wave my arms or start shouting to the driver to warn them about the collision. Cases like this are a daily occurrence to those of us who drive or watch other drivers on the road, so the promises of… Read More
Architecting an ML Design
Discussion on machine learning (ML) and hardware design has been picking up significantly in two fascinating areas: how ML can advance hardware design methods and how hardware design methods can advance building ML systems. Here I’ll talk about the latter, particularly about architecting ML-enabled SoCs. This approach is … Read More