Normal operation range for a Semiconductor device is not made equal for systems… If you consider a CPU running inside an aircraft engine control system, this device should operate at temperature ranged between -55°C and +125°C, when an Application Processor for smartphone is only required to operate in the 0°C to +70°C range. … Read More
Semiconductor Intellectual Property
TSMC Tapes Out First 64-bit ARM
TSMC announced today that together with ARM they have taped out the first ARM Cortex-A57 64-bit processor on TSMC’s 16nm FinFET technology. The two companies cooperated in the implementation from RTL to tape-out over six months using ARM physical IP, TSMC memory macros, and a commercial 16nm FinFET tool chain enabled by… Read More
April 17-19: Overbooked!
For three days in a couple of weeks time there is a crash of conferences, spread out all over the extended Bay Area.
Firstly, from 17-19th April at the Santa Clara Hyatt is the Linley Mobile Conference. This covers all things microprocessor in the mobile industry. Details of the conference including the full agenda are here. The conference… Read More
Apple and Google Turn Towards Enterprise
As a calm settles over the mobile market, post the overhyped Samsung Galaxy S4 launch, many analysts are at a loss as to describe a way forward with Apple that is understandable and positive. The dozens of reports that focus on the summer launches of the iPhone 5S and cheap iphone miss the side of the barn on the true strategy being put… Read More
In compliance we trust, for integration we verify
So, you dropped that piece of complex IP you just licensed into an SoC design, and now it is time to fire up the simulator. How do you verify that it actually works in your design? If you didn’t get verification IP (VIP) with the functional IP, it might be a really long day.
Compliance checking something like a PCIe interface block is a … Read More
Simon Segars to be New CEO of ARM
ARM announced today that Warren East, the CEO, would be retiring at the end of June. The new CEO will be Simon Segars, currently President of ARM and the de facto #2 guy. Currently Simon is based in the US and I don’t know if he plans to return to Britain or not. But he will live what will inevitably be a lifestyle that involves crossing… Read More
Interconnect Optimization of an SoC Architecture
My last chip design at Intel was a GPU called the 82786and the architects of the chip wrote a virtual prototype using the MAINSAIL language. By using a virtual prototype they were able to:
- Simulate bus traffic, video display and video RAM
- Determine throughput
- Measure latency
- Verify that bus priorities were working
- Optimize the
Create Beyond the NoC Solutions!
The Network On Chip (NoC) concept is recent, about 10 years old, and the first implementation of commercially available NoC IP has happened in 2006. Should we drop the concept so quickly after it has been introduced? In fact, I don’t think so… But we could brain storm and imagine the new functions that could be implemented within or… Read More
ARM Cortex SoC Prototyping Platform for Industrial Applications
If your next SoC uses an ARM Cortex-A9 and has an industrial application, then you can save much design and debug time by using a prototyping platform. The price to prototype is quite affordable, and the methodology has a short learning curve. Bill Tomasan Aldec Research Engineer conducted a webinar today on: ARM Cortex SoC Prototyping… Read More
Will next generation Mobile Devices support PCI Express? M-PCIe is coming fast!
Those who have read the numerous articles I have written about MIPI, or PCIe, or the fusion of both named “Mobile Express” know my position: the question is not “Will Mobile devices support PCI Express?” but “When will we see Mobile devices integrating Mobile Express?” I was not really surprised by the Press Release that Cadence … Read More
Will 50% of New High Performance Computing (HPC) Chip Designs be Multi-Die in 2025?