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A New Product for DRC and LVS that Lives in the Cloud

A New Product for DRC and LVS that Lives in the Cloud
by Daniel Payne on 04-17-2017 at 12:00 pm

Back in the day the Dracula tool from Cadence was king of the DRC and LVS world for physical IC verification, however more recently we’ve seen Calibre from Mentor Graphics as the leader in this realm. Cadence wanted to reclaim their earlier prominence in physical verification so they had to come out with something different… Read More


Live from the TSMC Earnings Call!

Live from the TSMC Earnings Call!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-17-2017 at 7:00 am

Last week I was invited to attend the TSMC earnings call at the Shangri-la Hotel in Taipei which was QUITE the experience. I generally listen in on the calls and/or read the transcripts but this was the first one I attended live. I didn’t really know what to expect but I certainly did NOT expect something out of Hollywood. Seriously,… Read More


How to Implement a Secure IoT system on ARMv8-M

How to Implement a Secure IoT system on ARMv8-M
by Daniel Payne on 04-14-2017 at 12:00 pm

This weekend my old garage door opener started to fail, so it was time to shop for a new one at The Home Depot, and much to my surprise I found that Chamberlain offered a Smartphone-controlled WiFi system. Just think of that, controlling my garage door with a Smartphone, but then again the question arose, “What happens when a … Read More


IP Traffic Control

IP Traffic Control
by Bernard Murphy on 04-14-2017 at 7:00 am

From an engineering point of view, IP is all about functionality, PPA, fitness for use and track record. From a business/management point of view there are other factors, just as critical, that relate less to what the IP is and more to its correct management and business obligations. The problems have different flavors depending… Read More


IP Vendors: Call for Contribution to the Design IP Report!

IP Vendors: Call for Contribution to the Design IP Report!
by Eric Esteve on 04-13-2017 at 12:00 pm

The EDA & IP industry enjoys high growth for the Design IP segment, but a detailed analysis tool is missing. IPnest will address this need in 2017, expecting the IP vendors’ contribution! If we consider the results posted last March by the ESD Alliance, the EDA (and IP) industry is doing extremely well, as the global revenue has… Read More


SPIE 2017 ASML and Cadence EUV impact on place and route

SPIE 2017 ASML and Cadence EUV impact on place and route
by Scotten Jones on 04-13-2017 at 7:00 am

As feature sizes have shrunk, the semiconductor industry has moved from simple, single-exposure lithography solutions to increasingly complex resolution-enhancement techniques and multi-patterning. Where the design on a mask once matched the image that would be produced on the wafer, today the mask and resulting image … Read More


Communication with Smart, Connected Devices and AI

Communication with Smart, Connected Devices and AI
by Daniel Payne on 04-12-2017 at 12:00 pm

I’ve lived and worked in Silicon Valley for 13 years, but since 1995 I’ve been in the Silicon Rainforest (aka Oregon) where the world’s number one semiconductor company Intel, has a large presence, along with dozens of smaller high-tech firms. In the past year I’ve started to attend events organized … Read More


Synchronizing Collaboration

Synchronizing Collaboration
by Bernard Murphy on 04-12-2017 at 7:00 am

Much though some of us might wish otherwise, distributed development teams are here to stay. Modern SoC design requires strength and depth in expertise in too many domains to effectively source from one site; competitive multi-national businesses have learned they can very effectively leverage remote sites by building centers… Read More


Calibre Can Calculate Chip Yields Correlated to Compromised SRAM Cells

Calibre Can Calculate Chip Yields Correlated to Compromised SRAM Cells
by Tom Simon on 04-11-2017 at 12:00 pm

It seems like I have written a lot about SRAM lately. Let’s face it SRAM is important – it often represents large percentages of the area on SOC’s. As such, SRAM yield plays a major role in determining overall chip yields. SRAM is vulnerable to defect related failures, which unlike variation effects are not Gaussian in nature. Fabrication… Read More


SPIE 2017: Irresistible Materials EUV Photoresist

SPIE 2017: Irresistible Materials EUV Photoresist
by Scotten Jones on 04-11-2017 at 7:00 am

Irresistible Materials (IM) is a spin-out of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom that has been doing research on Photoresist and Spin-On Carbon hard masks for 10 years, most recently with Nano-C on chemistry development. IM has developed a unique EUV photoresist and they are now looking for partners to help bring… Read More