Networks-on-chip (NoCs) are very configurable, arguably the most configurable piece of IP that you can put on a chip. The only thing that comes close are highly configurable extensible VLIW processors such as those from Tensilica (Cadence), ARC (Synopsys) and CEVA but Sonics would argue their NoCs are even more flexible. But … Read More
Semiconductor Intellectual Property
Getting the best from MIPI IP Toolbox
The set of MIPI specifications has severely enlarged during the past year. This is a positive point, as the large set of specifications induces a wider choice, and a chip maker can decide to implement a complex specification to differentiate with competitors, or select a specification just tailored to support a basic architecture… Read More
Compositions allow NoCs to connect easier
I blame it on Henry Ford, William Levitt, and the NY State Board of Regents, among others. We went through a phase with this irresistible urge to stamp out blocks of sameness, creating mass produced clones of everything from cars to houses to students.
Thank goodness, that’s pretty much over. The thinking of simplifying system design… Read More
Rekeying the IoT with eMTP
For non-volatile storage in IoT devices, there is technology designed to be reprogrammed many times, and technology designed to be programmed once. The many times mode is for application code, while the once mode is for keying and calibration parameters. We are about to enter the IoT rekeying zone, in between these two extremes.… Read More
Wearables the Big Hit at CES
There were a number of trends discernible at CES this year, one of the big ones being wearables, especially in the medical and fitness areas. I wear a FitBit Flex and I have, but rarely wear, a Pebble Watch that links to my iPhone. I would say that at this point they are promising but are more gimmicks than truly useful. My Fitbit measures… Read More
Just Released! Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry
The book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” is now available in the Kindle (mobi) and iBooks (ePub) formats. We are really looking forward to your feedback before we go to print in March. This was truly a Tom Sawyer experience for me. As the story goes Tom made whitewashing a fence seem like fun so his friends… Read More
DSPs converging on software defined everything
In our fascination where architecture meets the ideas of Fourier, Nyquist, Reed, Shannon, and others, we almost missed the shift – most digital signal processing isn’t happening on a big piece of silicon called a DSP anymore.
It didn’t start out that way. General purpose CPUs, which can do almost anything given enough code, time,… Read More
SilabTech Awarded 2013 Best Start-up in India
This is obviously great news for SilabTech, and this is the type of news which will change the perception that we (non-Indian) have of the Semiconductor industry in India. About 15-20 years ago, the India Embedded/VLSI industry was perceived as low cost design resource pool, a good place where to implement design center. The hidden… Read More
MIPI Alliance Specifications Adoption Status in 2013
At the beginning of December in Paris I had the opportunity to make a presentation to a very impressive audience, technical gurus from companies contributing to MIPI Alliance specification were here, including ST-Microelectronics, Intel, Qualcomm, TI, Toshiba, Nokia, Samsung, to name a few. … Read More
Things to do in Denver when you’re 64-bit
When Apple announced last September their A7 chip had gone 64-bit, the congregation immediately swooned, but analysts reacted skeptically: “So what? Phones don’t need more memory, and there are no 64-bit apps.” Even pundits miss once in a while, and now the topic is how the chip industry is headed for 64-bit.… Read More
Flynn Was Right: How a 2003 Warning Foretold Today’s Architectural Pivot