No, I’m not going to talk about in-memory-compute architectures. There’s interesting work being done there but here I’m going to talk here about mainstream architectures for memory support in Machine Learning (ML) designs. These are still based on conventional memory components/IP such as cache, register files, SRAM and various… Read More
Semiconductor Intellectual Property
Using ML to Build Efficient Low Power Platforms for Augmented Vision
We are all pretty familiar with augmented reality, where real world images are overlaid with computer generated images, graphics and even audio. Of course, our first exposure to augmented reality might have been images of heads up displays in fighter jets or perhaps in the movie The Terminator. Augmented reality is moving rapidly… Read More
Real Time Object Recognition for Automotive Applications
The basic principles used for neural networks have been understood for decades, what have changed to make them so successful in recent years are increased processing power, storage and training data. Layered on top of this is continued improvement in algorithms, often enabled by dramatic hardware performance improvements.… Read More
IC Integrity Thesis
Most of my investments are associated with large changes in the semiconductor industry. These changes create opportunities for new and disruptive technologies. I also look to find solutions that provide a compelling reason to adopt a new technology or approach. When talking about a new approach, it often takes longer to overcome… Read More
Spring Forward with AI
The euphoria of NCAA March Madness seems to spill over into the tech world. The epicenter of many tech talks this month spanning from GPU conference, OCP, SNUG to CASPA has evolved around an increased AI endorsement by many companies and its integration into many silicon driven applications. At this year CASPA Spring Symposium,… Read More
Menta eFPGA Conquer Eu Processor and 5G in China
During 2018, Menta looked quiet if you consider communication as the main indicator of activity. In fact, the eFPGA vendor was hyper-active in developing future business and reports two main design-win. The first is with the European Processor Initiative (EPI) and Menta has announced in December 2018 that it has been selected… Read More
Verification 3.0 Holds it First Innovation Summit
Last week I attended the first Verification 3.0 Innovation Summit held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara along with about 90 other interested engineers and former engineers (meaning marketing and sales people, like me). There was a great vibe and feel to the event as it exuded an energy level that I have not felt at an EDA event in years.… Read More
Narrow-Band IoT Adoption Grows as IP Options Narrow
Cellular as a method to communicate with the IoT is on a tear for obvious reasons. It’s long-range with no concerns about the lesser reach of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, it needs no added infrastructure since it already works with 2G/3G/4G (and ultimately 5G I presume) and it’s designed for ultra-low power, supporting those devices expecting… Read More
ARM, NXP Share Usage, Challenges at Synopsys Lunch
Synopsys runs a “Industry verifies with Synopsys” lunch at each DVCon, which isn’t as cheesy as the title might suggest. The bulk of the lunch covers user presentations on their use of Synopsys tools which I find informative and quite open, sharing problems as much as successes. This year, Eamonn Quiqley, FPGA engineering manager… Read More
The Revolution Evolution Continues – SiFive RISC-V Technology Symposium – Part II
During the afternoon session of the Symposium, Jack Kang, SiFive VP sales then addressed the RISC-V Core IP for vertical markets from consumer/smart home/wearables to storage/networking/5G to ML/edge. Embedding intelligence from the edge to the cloud can occur with U Cores 64-bit Application Processors, S Cores 64-bit Embedded… Read More
Should Intel be Split in Half?