A little self-indulgence for the season, to lighten the relentless diet of DAC updates. I found a recent Wired article based on a TED talk on consciousness. The speaker drew a conclusion that consciousness was not something that could ever be captured in a machine and was a unique capability of living creatures (or at least humans).… Read More




Accurate Power Sooner
Synopsys PrimeTime PX, popularly known as PT-PX, is widely recognized as the gold standard for power signoff. Calculation is based on a final gate-level netlist reflecting final gate selections and either approximate interconnect parasitics or final parasitics based on the post-layout netlist. The only way to get more accurate… Read More
Is AI the end of jobs?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing so rapidly that even its developers are being caught off guard. Google co-founder Sergey Brin said in Davos, Switzerland, in January that it “touches every single one of our main projects, ranging from search to photos to ads … everything we do … it definitely surprised me, even though … Read More
Design Deconstruction
It is self-evident that large systems of any type would not be possible without hierarchical design. Decomposing a large system objective into subsystems, and subsystems of subsystems, has multiple benefits. Smaller subsystems can be more easily understood and better tested when built, robust 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party alternatives… Read More
Resistance is futile, IoT is transforming all industries!
I thought to share with you a tangible view on how IoT is transforming all industries as opposed to discussing yet again the familiar IoT use case:
( a list for those interested, just in case )… Read More
TSMC @ #54DAC!
TSMC has been an ardent supporter of DAC for the last 18 years which has brought in the other foundries because, as the industry leader, wherever TSMC goes the other foundries naturally follow. The exception of course is Intel Custom Foundry because they march to the beat of a different drummer, if you know what I mean. The CoFluent… Read More
Don’t Miss “The IP Paradox” Panel @ #54 DAC!
Despite the strong consolidation in the semiconductor industry, the Design IP market is still growing: from $3 billion in 2015 to $3.4 billion in 2016. That’s why the DAC IP Committee has organized this panel, titled “The IP Paradox: Growing Business Despite Consolidations” (you can see more on the events page: https://dac.com/events… Read More
DAC 2017 Review
DAC is coming, next week, in beautiful downtown Austin at the Convention Center. I’ll be there Monday and Tuesday, running around the exhibit area. If you haven’t yet got your plane and hotel tickets, drop everything and start looking. I’m guessing this will be as popular as it always is, especially given the venue. I know of multiple… Read More
The FPGA Business Just Got Interesting Again!
FPGA’s have played an important role in the fabless semiconductor ecosystem which is why it has a full chapter in our book Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry. Along my career path I spent time at a start-up FPGA so I know how hard it is. I worked for GateField which was then acquired by FPGA pioneer Actel… Read More
Worldwide Design IP Revenue Grew 13.1% in 2016, According to Final Results by IPnest
Despite the strong consolidation in the semiconductor industry, the Design IP market is going well, very well with YoY growth of 13.1% in 2016, according with the Design IP Report from IPnest. ARM Group of Softbank (previously known as ARM Holding) is again the strong #1 with IP revenues (licenses plus royalties) of $1,647 million… Read More
Intel’s Pearl Harbor Moment