We all know (I hope) that security is important so we’re willing to invest time and money in this area but there are a couple of problems. First there’s no point in making your design secure if it’s not competitive and making it competitive is hard enough, so the great majority of resource and investment is going to go into that objective.… Read More
Adding CDM Protection to a Real World LNA Test Case
In RF designs Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) play a critical role in system operation. They simultaneously need to be extremely sensitive and noise free, yet also must be able to withstand strong signal input without distortion. LNA designers often struggle to meet device performance specifications. Their task is further complicated… Read More
eFPGA – What a great idea! But I have no idea how I’d use it!
eFPGA stands for embedded Field Programmable Grid Arrays. An eFPGA is a programmable device like an FPGA but rather than being sold as a completed chip it is licensed as a semiconductor IP block. ASIC designers can license this IP and embed it into their own chips adding the flexibility of programmability at an incremental cost.… Read More
GPU-Powered SPICE – Understanding the Cost
To deploy a GPU-based SPICE solution, you need to understand the costs involved. To get your hands on this new report analyzing this specific issue, all you need to do is attend Empyrean’s upcoming webinar, “GPU-Powered SPICE: The Way Forward for Analog Simulation,” which will be held on Thursday, August 8, 2019, at 10:00 am (PDT).… Read More
56th DAC – In Depth Look at Analog IP Migration from MunEDA
Every year at DAC, in addition to the hubbub of the exhibit floor and the relatively short technical sessions, there are a number of tutorials that dive in depth into interesting topics. At the 56th DAC in Las Vegas this year, MunEDA offered an interesting tutorial on Analog IP migration and optimization. This is a key issue for large… Read More
Semicon West 2019 – Day 3 – Global Foundries
On Wednesday, July 10th I got to sit down with Gary Patton, CTO and SVP of worldwide research and development of Global Foundries and get an update on how the company is doing.
We started with a discussion of Global Foundries (GF) general business health. Revenue for the year is expected to be around $6 billion dollars. They are focused… Read More
Taking the Pain out of UVM
If you are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the many ways you can leverage the Universal Verification Methodology (UVM), Breker Verification Systems has gone to a lot of effort to put that information at your fingertips.
A technical subcommittee of Accellera voted to establish the UVM in December 2009. UVM was based… Read More
SiFive Fosters RISC-V Collaboration and Education in India and Bangladesh Via Symposiums, Tutorials and Workshops
Last year we hosted several SiFive Tech Symposiums in India to help promulgate the RISC-V ecosystem in the region. The enthusiastic reception from those in industry as well as students and faculty at India’s most esteemed universities was inspiring. This July and August, we’re bringing the SiFive Tech Symposium back to India,… Read More
SemiWiki Webinar Series: Who Wants to do a Webinar?
Webinars have been a popular form of communication since even before SemiWiki existed and they are a mainstay in today’s fast-moving semiconductor ecosystem.
In the past, SemiWiki has assisted with more than a hundred webinars. Today SemiWiki can do a complete webinar from start to finish using the GotoWebinar software. SemiWiki… Read More
The Wild, Wild SEMICON West TechTALK – Joe Costello Speaks Out
On July 9, 2019, I attended the TechTALK session hosted by Dave Kelf of Breker Systems, Inc. titled, “Applied AI in Design-to-Manufacturing.” I was happy to hear what Dave had put together for this since it is a topic I am keenly interested in and because I have known Dave personally through music and charitable activities we have … Read More
Flynn Was Right: How a 2003 Warning Foretold Today’s Architectural Pivot