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A new world of 10nm design constraints

A new world of 10nm design constraints
by Beth Martin on 08-30-2016 at 4:00 pm

Every time the industry transitions to a smaller process node IC design software undergoes extensive updates.

I talked to a couple of experts in physical design at Mentor Graphics about what is involved in making place-and-route software ready for a new node. This is what I learned from Sudhakar Jilla, the IC design marketing director… Read More


Millennial Tyranny in the Connected Car

Millennial Tyranny in the Connected Car
by Roger C. Lanctot on 08-30-2016 at 12:00 pm

Nielsen’s latest AutoTECHCAST study once again introduces confusion to the connected car debate, but it’s understandable and relates to a demographic gradient around technology. Young people are aware of an interested in so-called “brought-in” technologies, while the majority of (older) people… Read More


I3C Will Support MIPI Pervasion Beyond Mobile: IoT, Wearable, Automotive

I3C Will Support MIPI Pervasion Beyond Mobile: IoT, Wearable, Automotive
by Eric Esteve on 08-30-2016 at 7:00 am

MIPI I3C specification Draft Specification is now available to all MIPI Alliance members in First Draft Review, but we can be confident that I3C has been already implemented by some of the members. Before I3C specification, the de facto communication standard for sensors in mobile and consumer applications was I²C, requiring… Read More


Flex Logix validating EFLX on TSMC 40ULP

Flex Logix validating EFLX on TSMC 40ULP
by Don Dingee on 08-29-2016 at 4:00 pm

Flex Logix has been heads-down for the last several months working toward customer implementations of their EFLX reconfigurable RTL IP cores. Today, they’ve announced a family of 10 hard IP cores ready in TSMC 40ULP, and provided an update to their roadmap for us.… Read More


Embedded Product Development – Make vs Buy

Embedded Product Development – Make vs Buy
by Prakash Mohapatra on 08-29-2016 at 12:00 pm

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) face many questions before building any product. After they are convinced that there is a business potential in their new product, next comes the crucial stage of project execution. They aspire to build the product in-time, maybe before the competitors or better than the competing products,… Read More


We Don’t Need Graphic Design. We Do Need Graphic Views

We Don’t Need Graphic Design. We Do Need Graphic Views
by Bernard Murphy on 08-29-2016 at 7:00 am

Many years ago, there were attempts to (re-) introduce a graphical entry approach to building RTL design. The Renoir product was one example. The idea has some initial appeal. You describe the behavior in a small block using (textual) RTL but the larger structure of instances and higher-level connectivity can be described as a … Read More


Keep It Simple, Allstate

Keep It Simple, Allstate
by Roger C. Lanctot on 08-28-2016 at 4:00 pm

A report in the Wall Street Journal last week dives into the insurance industry’s quandary over the anticipated onset of self-driving cars that might significantly and negatively impact the volume of claims and, ultimately, mitigate the need for car insurance altogether. The report is simultaneously a source of alarm and relief… Read More


Next SemiWiki Book Signing Event: MIPI DEVCON!

Next SemiWiki Book Signing Event: MIPI DEVCON!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-28-2016 at 12:00 pm

This is the first MIPI DEVCOM event and the location is my favorite, the Computer Museum in Silicon Valley. For those of you who haven’t been, the Computer Museum preserves and presents for posterity the artifacts and stories of the information age, an age we all grew up in. For those of you who have been to the Computer Museum there … Read More


Low Frequency Noise Challenges IC Designs

Low Frequency Noise Challenges IC Designs
by Daniel Payne on 08-28-2016 at 7:00 am

AMS and RF IC designers have known for years that their circuits are sensitive to noise, because if you amplify noise on an input source to an amplifier circuit then your chip can start to produce wrong answers. Even digital SoC designers need to start taking notice because every SoC is filled with SRAM IP blocks, and at each shrinking… Read More


Apple will NEVER use Intel Custom Foundry!

Apple will NEVER use Intel Custom Foundry!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-27-2016 at 7:00 am

The media already has Apple and Intel in talks to make the A11 SoC in 2018 as a result of the recent Intel/ARM IP licensing deal. This is probably one of the funnier media bumbles I have read in a while so let’s talk about it in a little more detail.

“According to Nikkei Asian Review, Intel is now perfectly poised to give TSMC a good run forRead More