Optimization and Reliability for FinFET designs at #55DAC

Optimization and Reliability for FinFET designs at #55DAC
by Daniel Payne on 07-25-2018 at 7:00 am

TSMC is the leading foundry worldwide and they make a big splash each year at the DAC exhibit and conference, so I stopped by their theatre area during the presentation from IP vendor Moortec to see what’s new this year. Stephen Crosher was the presenter from Moortec and we had exchanged emails before, so this was the first time… Read More


Accelerated Verification with Synopsys

Accelerated Verification with Synopsys
by Alex Tan on 07-17-2018 at 12:00 pm

At DAC 2018, Synopsys held a lunch panel discussing verification challenges faced by the industry leaders, their adopted approaches and the overall verification technology trends. This panel of industry experts from Intel, AMD, Samsung, STM and Qualcomm also shared their viewpoints on what drives the SoC complexity and how… Read More


Cadence’s Smarter and Faster Verification in the Era of Machine Learning, AI, and Big Data Analytics Panel

Cadence’s Smarter and Faster Verification in the Era of Machine Learning, AI, and Big Data Analytics Panel
by Camille Kokozaki on 07-11-2018 at 12:00 pm

I attended on Monday, June 25, DAC’s Opening Day, a Cadence-sponsored Lunch panel. Ann Steffora Mutschler (Semiconductor Engineering) was the Moderator and the Panelists were Jim Hogan (Vista Ventures), David Lacey (HP Enterprise), Shigeo Oshima (Toshiba Memory Corp), Paul Cunningham (Cadence).… Read More


Glad to be part of SemiWiki and my DAC Industry Report

Glad to be part of SemiWiki and my DAC Industry Report
by Mark Gilbert on 07-11-2018 at 7:00 am

Welcome to my newly relocated column, I am so excited about my new relationship with Daniel Nenni, and the other esteemed bloggers on SemiWiki. For those who do not know me, I have been a featured columnist on another EDA portal for the past 12-plus years, and in EDA for 20-plus years. As the leading recruiter in our industry, (or so … Read More


A New Kind of Analog EDA Company

A New Kind of Analog EDA Company
by Daniel Payne on 07-10-2018 at 12:00 pm

My IC design career started out with circuit design of DRAMS, so I got to quickly learn all about transistor-level design at the number one IDM in the world, Intel at the time. In the early days, circa 1978 we circuit designers actually had few EDA tools, mostly a SPICE circuit simulator followed by manual extraction, manual netlisting,… Read More


Mentor Calibre Panel

Mentor Calibre Panel
by Alex Tan on 07-09-2018 at 12:00 pm

Getting your tape-out done on time is hard, but can it be made easier? That was the main topic of Mentor’s Calibre Panel held at DAC 2018, attended by a few key players in IC design ecosystem: Bob Stear, VP of Marketing at Samsung represented the foundry side; from the IP side, Prasad Subramaniam, VP of eSilicon for R&D and Technology;… Read More


55DAC Trip Report IP Quality

55DAC Trip Report IP Quality
by Daniel Nenni on 07-09-2018 at 7:00 am

This year I signed books in the Fractal booth (compliments of Fractal) and let me tell you it was quite an experience. IP quality is a very touchy subject and the source of many more tape-out delays than I had imagined. As it turns out, commercial IP is the biggest offender which makes no sense to me whatsoever. Even more shocking, one… Read More


Liberate Trio Embraces ML and Cloud

Liberate Trio Embraces ML and Cloud
by Alex Tan on 07-05-2018 at 12:00 pm

A chain is as strong as its weakest link. This phrase resonates well in Static Timing Analysis (STA) domain, though it is about accuracy rather than durability. As timing signoff step provides the final performance readings of a design, an STA outcome is as good as its underlying components. Aside from the parasitic extraction … Read More


55DAC Trip Report Needham Opening Presentation

55DAC Trip Report Needham Opening Presentation
by Daniel Nenni on 07-04-2018 at 7:00 am

Driving into DAC on Sunday afternoon was a chore since Gay Pride week was finishing with the Gay Pride Parade. Streets were closed, traffic was crazy, and people were roller skating naked which seems wrong on so many levels. This year the opening ceremonies were in the convention center hallway which also seemed wrong. Long lines… Read More


DAC 2018 Potpourri

DAC 2018 Potpourri
by Alex Tan on 07-03-2018 at 12:00 pm

The venue
Despite of being held at the new three-story Moscone West building, this year 55th DAC in San Francisco bore many similarities as compared with last year’s. Similar booth decors and floorplan positioning of the big two, Synopsys and Cadence, which were across of each other and right next to the first floor entrance –although… Read More