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IoT in the Cloud with Microsoft and Mentor

IoT in the Cloud with Microsoft and Mentor
by Daniel Payne on 04-27-2017 at 12:00 pm

I cycle for fitness five days per week and use the Strava.com site to post my rides, analyze the ride data and chat with other cyclists, however in February this year the Amazon Web Services went down which crashed Strava, making me sad and nervous at the same time. Of course, there are alternatives to Amazon Web Services and the engineers… Read More


Lip-Bu on Opportunity

Lip-Bu on Opportunity
by Bernard Murphy on 04-27-2017 at 7:00 am

Given a chance to talk with someone as connected as Lip-Bu Tan (President and CEO of Cadence and Chairman of the VC firm Walden International), it is tempting to ask all the usual questions about industry growth and directions in cloud, automotive, IIoT, AI and so on. I wanted to try something different. If you make a living (or plan… Read More


Approaches for EM, IR and Thermal Analysis of ICs

Approaches for EM, IR and Thermal Analysis of ICs
by Daniel Payne on 04-26-2017 at 12:10 pm

As an engineer I’ve learned how to trade off using various EDA tools based on the accuracy requirements and the time available to complete a project. EDA vendors have been offering software tools to help us with reliability concerns like EM, IR drop and thermal analysis for several years now. Last week I attended a webinar … Read More


A Self-Contained Software-Driven Prototype

A Self-Contained Software-Driven Prototype
by Bernard Murphy on 04-26-2017 at 7:00 am

You’re building an IP, subsystem or SoC and you want to use a prototype together with a software testbench to drive extensive validation testing. I’m not talking here about the software running on the IP/SoC processor(s); the testbench should wrap around the whole DUT. This is a very common requirement. The standard approach to… Read More


3D Product Design Collaboration in MCAD and ECAD Platforms

3D Product Design Collaboration in MCAD and ECAD Platforms
by Tom Dillinger on 04-25-2017 at 12:00 pm

Consumer electronics demand aggressive mechanical enclosure design — product volume, weight, shape, and connector access are all critical design optimization criteria. Mechanical CAD (MCAD) software platforms are used by product engineers to develop the enclosure definition — the integration of the PCB design… Read More


The CDNLive Keynotes

The CDNLive Keynotes
by Bernard Murphy on 04-25-2017 at 7:00 am

I’m developing a taste for user-group meetings. In my (fairly) recently assumed role as a member of the media, I’m only allowed into the keynotes, but from what I have seen, vendors work hard to make these fresh and compelling each year through big-bang product updates and industry/academic leaders talking about their work in bleeding-edge… Read More


NetSpeed Taking a Ride with Autonomous Automobiles

NetSpeed Taking a Ride with Autonomous Automobiles
by Mitch Heins on 04-24-2017 at 12:00 pm

The push for autonomous automobiles continues at a rapid pace. Last week a new conference was held in Santa Clara, CA by the Linley Group focused on Autonomous Hardware. The group included presentations from GLOBAL FOUNDRIES, Synopsys, NetSpeed Systems, Arteris, EMBC, Cadence, CEVA, ARM and Trilumina covering ADAS and autonomous… Read More


1.2 Terabit/s C2C Interface? Only with Interlaken!

1.2 Terabit/s C2C Interface? Only with Interlaken!
by Eric Esteve on 04-24-2017 at 7:00 am

If you are familiar with high bandwidth networking applications, you probably know this chip-to-chip (C2C) interface protocol. Interlaken architecture, fully flexible, configurable and scalable, is also an elegant answer to the need for very high bandwidth C2C communication. Interlaken is elegant because the protocol … Read More


Attending DAC in Austin for Free

Attending DAC in Austin for Free
by Daniel Payne on 04-23-2017 at 7:00 am

I’ve been attending DAC since the late 1980’s and can tell you that it’s an annual highlight for me and anyone else interested in the EDA, IP and semiconductor industries. Where else can you see most of the big and little vendors of EDA software, semiconductor IP and foundries in one place? I recently blogged aboutRead More


How Far Has Design Automation Brought Us?

How Far Has Design Automation Brought Us?
by Tom Simon on 04-21-2017 at 12:00 pm

It’s always a struggle explaining electronic design automation (EDA) to people who ask me what field I am in. I have come up with simple and minimal descriptions – such as “software used for designing semiconductors.” This, of course, does little to provide any useful understanding to people who are not familiar with the field.… Read More