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
Self-Certification Insufficient?
The crash of Ethiopia Air Flight 961 may have a negative impact on the development of autonomous vehicle technology. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now forced to reconsider the “self-certification” process used for the Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane involved.
Self-driving car developers have been seeking the same … Read More
Update on SystemC for High-Level Synthesis
The scope of current system designs continues to present challenges to verification and implementation engineering teams. The algorithmic complexity of image/voice processing applications needs a high-level language description for efficient representation. The development and testing of embedded firmware routines… Read More
Device-as-a-Service – a Market for the Future
There is an emerging market in the world of IoT, and service providers are yet to realize the potential of it. With x-as-a-Service — x taking the shape of either software, platform, or infrastructure — already in play, it is only a matter of time before Device-as-a-Service becomes a cash cow for these providers.
Like its predecessors,… Read More
A Smarter Way to Do Multi-Board PCB Systems
Many electronic product ideas start out as sketches on the back of a napkin, then migrate over to diagrams drawn in Visio or PowerPoint, finally entered into EDA-specific tools. With that methodology there’s a big disconnect between the diagrams drawn with a purely graphical tool and the EDA tools, because there’s… Read More
Semiconductor Market Downturn in 2019
The global semiconductor market grew 13.7% in 2018, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). Each year, we at Semiconductor Intelligence review semiconductor forecasts and compare them to the final WSTS data. We used projections which were publicly released from late 2017 through early 2018, prior to the … Read More
SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference – ASML EUV Update
At the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference ASML gave an update on both the current 0.33NA system and the 0.55 high-NA system development. I saw the presentations and got to sit down with Mike Lercel (Director of Strategic Marketing).… Read More
Attend Parts of DAC For Free, Really
The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is the must-see, annual event for semiconductor professionals that design chips, use EDA software, and buy semiconductor IP. Like all conferences there’s an entrance fee, but for the 11th year now you can get a free pass, courtesy of three sponsors: Avatar Integrated Systems, ClioSoft… 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
Weebit Nano Moves into the Mainstream with Customer Adoption