We’ve introduced the concepts behind triple modular redundancy (TMR) before, using built-in capability in Synopsys Synplify Premier to synthesize TMR circuitry into FPGAs automatically. A recent white paper authored by Angela Sutton revisits the subject… Read More



IC Designers talk about 28nm to 7nm challenges at #53DAC
IC design challenges are different at advanced nodes like 7nm, so to learn more about the topic I attended a panel luncheon at DAC sponsored by Cadence. The moderator was both funny and technically astute, quite the rare combination, so kudos to Professor Rob Rutenbar, a former Neolinear guy now at the University of Illinois. Panelists… Read More
Which CEVA DSP to use to Support Multimode Connectivity Requirements of IoT and M2M?
The definition of IoT systems is moving fast: the simple definition of a connected (to Internet) device in the early days is becoming more complex and also more precise. IoT or M2M devices are expected to support the full range of emerging cellular protocols such as LTE MTC Cat-1, Cat-0 or Cat-M, as well as the suite of Low Power Wide… Read More
Synaptics’ New Security Adapter Takes PC Fingerprint Security Literally Anywhere
Synaptics is an understated innovator in the human interface and end user experience technology space, and many of the hottest smartphones, tablets and PCs have their technology inside. The Samsung Galaxy S7, Apple iPhone 6S, Dell XPS 15, Microsoft Surface and Surface Book, and HP ENVY are just a few of these products I’ve personally… Read More
The Evolution of IoT Platforms
Hype-cycles are well known phenomena to those who pay attention to high-tech markets. Since we are probably at a peak of the early IoT hype-cycle in 2016, it’s natural to expect this latest wave of technologies to evolve just like other tech categories have in the past, with the eventual market power and market value going to a few … Read More
Democracy is a great thing, except in the workplace
“The Soviet Union I left behind was a dictatorship but the workplace was a democracy; America may be free but the workplace is a dictatorship” said Len Erlikh after I hired him at First Boston (now Credit Suisse First Boston) in 1986. Being of the Jewish faith, he had fled the U.S.S.R.’s religious persecution.
Erlikh’s words have … Read More
The iPhone 7 Intel Modem Controversy Explained!
The media is really having a field day on this one so I think it deserves further discussion. The rumor is that Intel has won the modem socket in the iPhone 7. The same rumor was circulating about Intel winning the modem socket for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5e so it really has reached urban legend status. The question I have is why does … Read More
AMD’s 7th Generation APU Brings Many Performance Tweaks And The Last Hurrah Before Zen
Advanced Micro Devices has already told us that 2016 was going to be the year of graphics, but the reality is that they also have a lot going on in their CPU and APU division as well. In fact, in addition to Advanced Micro Devices’s newly announced 7th Generation APUs in 2016, the company is also expected to launch their new Zen CPU cores… Read More
Custom IC Layout Design at #53DAC
Last week at the #53DAC conference there was a lot of excitement in the air about custom IC design, especially at the luncheon that I attended on Tuesday from Synopsys where they had customers like STMicroelectronics, GSI Technology, Samsung Foundry and the Synopsys IP group talk about their experiences using the new Custom Compiler… Read More
Design for the System Age
Of late, it has become painfully obvious that the value of electronics is in the system. And since systems demand continuing improvement, increasing performance and decreasing cost (once partially guaranteed by semiconductor process advances) is now sought through algorithm advances – witness the Google TPU and custom… Read More
Should Intel be Split in Half?