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Synopsys Announces FlexEDA for the Cloud!

Synopsys Announces FlexEDA for the Cloud!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-30-2022 at 10:30 am

Synopsys Cloud Graphic

There’s been a lot of discussion and hype regarding use of the cloud for chip design for quite a while, more than ten years I would say. I spoke with Synopsys to better understand their recent Synopsys Cloud announcement to determine if it is different. Briefly, it is different, and here is why:

If you’re trying to design a complex SoC,… Read More


Symbolic Trojan Detection. Innovation in Verification

Symbolic Trojan Detection. Innovation in Verification
by Bernard Murphy on 03-30-2022 at 6:00 am

Innovation New

We normally test only for correctness of the functionality we expect. How can we find functionality (e.g. Trojans) that we don’t expect? Paul Cunningham (GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO and now Silvaco CTO) and I continue our series on research ideas. As always,… Read More


Data Processing Unit (DPU) uses Verification IP (VIP) for PCI Express

Data Processing Unit (DPU) uses Verification IP (VIP) for PCI Express
by Daniel Payne on 03-29-2022 at 10:00 am

Fungible min

Domain specific processors are a mega-trend in the semiconductor industry, so we see new three letter acronyms like DPU, for Data Processing Unit. System level performance can actually be improved by moving some of the tasks away from the CPU. Companies like Xilinx (Alveo), Amazon (Nitro) and NVIDIA (BlueField) have been talking… Read More


Path Based UPF Strategies Explained

Path Based UPF Strategies Explained
by Tom Simon on 03-29-2022 at 6:00 am

Path Based UPF Semantics

The development of the Unified Power Format (UPF) was spurred on by the need for explicit ways to enable specification and verification of power management aspects of SoC designs. The origins of UPF date back to its first release in 2007. Prior to that several vendors had their own methods of specifying power management aspects … Read More


CEVA PentaG2 5G NR IP Platform

CEVA PentaG2 5G NR IP Platform
by Kalar Rajendiran on 03-28-2022 at 10:00 am

Pentag2 Programmable Accelerators Page 1

There are currently a number of attractive markets for technology oriented businesses to pursue. One such area is the 5G cellular market with opportunities to develop products for many use cases. A recent Ericsson Mobility Report forecasts incredible growth opportunities for various use cases within the cellular market. For… Read More


Analog Bits and SEMIFIVE is a Really Big Deal

Analog Bits and SEMIFIVE is a Really Big Deal
by Daniel Nenni on 03-28-2022 at 6:00 am

SemiFive Analog Bits SemiWiki

Given the recent acquisitions the ASIC business is coming full circle as a critical part of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem. The most recent one being the SEMIFIVE acquisition of IP industry stalworth Analog Bits. These two companies came to the industry from opposite directions which make them a perfect match, absolutely.… Read More


Auto Safety – A Dickensian Tale

Auto Safety – A Dickensian Tale
by Roger C. Lanctot on 03-27-2022 at 10:00 am

Auto Safety – A Dickensian Tale

As I prepare to join the International Telecommunications Union’s Future Networked Car Symposium – today through Friday – I am reminded of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” and its unforgettable opening paragraph – modified for a modern context here:

It was the best of times,Read More


Etch Pitch Doubling Requirement for Cut-Friendly Track Metal Layouts: Escaping Lithography Wavelength Dependence

Etch Pitch Doubling Requirement for Cut-Friendly Track Metal Layouts: Escaping Lithography Wavelength Dependence
by Fred Chen on 03-27-2022 at 6:00 am

Etch Pitch Doubling Requirement

The 5nm foundry node saw the arrival of 6-track standard cells with four narrow routing tracks between wide power/ground rails (Figure 1a), with minimum pitches of around 30 nm [1]. The routing tracks require cuts [2] with widths comparable to the minimum half-pitch, to enable the via connections to the next metal layer with the… Read More


Podcast EP68: The Foundation of Computational Electromagnetics

Podcast EP68: The Foundation of Computational Electromagnetics
by Daniel Nenni on 03-25-2022 at 10:00 am

Dan is joined by Dr. Matthew Commens, product manager Ansys. Matt discusses an upcoming webinar series on the inner workings and capabilities of Ansys simulation software. How the series began, the impact and benefits and a view of the future are all covered.

Webinar Series: Learn the Foundation of Computational ElectromagneticsRead More


WEBINAR: Overcome Aging Issues in Clocks at Sub-10nm Designs

WEBINAR: Overcome Aging Issues in Clocks at Sub-10nm Designs
by Daniel Nenni on 03-25-2022 at 8:00 am

Infinisim Webinar

We all know that designers work hard to reach design closure on SOC designs. However, what gets less attention from consumers is the effort that goes into ensuring that these chips will be fully operational and meeting timing specs over their projected lifetime. Of course, this is less important for chips used in devices with projected… Read More