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Aldec reprograms HES7 for AXI4 speed

Aldec reprograms HES7 for AXI4 speed
by Don Dingee on 02-26-2016 at 4:00 pm

FPGA-based prototyping firms are all grappling with the problem of higher speed connectivity between a development host and their hardware. Aldec is announcing their solution at DVCon 2016, turning to an AMBA AXI4 interface bridged into a host with PCIe x8.

Faster host interfaces deliver dual benefits in FPGA-based prototyping.… Read More


HW/SW Interfaces for Portable Stimulus

HW/SW Interfaces for Portable Stimulus
by Pawan Fangaria on 02-26-2016 at 12:00 pm

With growing size and complexity of SoC, the semiconductor community is realizing the growing pain of verification. The cost of SoC verification grows exponentially with design size. Moreover, there is no single methodology for verifying a SoC; multiple engines are used in different contexts through different verification… Read More


Design Verification Challenges: Past, Present and Future!

Design Verification Challenges: Past, Present and Future!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-26-2016 at 7:00 am

Next week I will be at DVCON which is not to be confused with DEFCON the community of black and white hat hackers that challenge our online privacy on a daily basis. DVCON is the premier conference for the functional design and verification of our beloved electronic devices. The big draw next week of course is the keynote by Dr. Walden… Read More


Mentor ARM subscription signals ecosystem shift

Mentor ARM subscription signals ecosystem shift
by Don Dingee on 02-25-2016 at 4:00 pm

Since creating the landmark “all-you-can-eat” license with Samsung in 2002, ARM has inked several subscription deals with chipmakers and EDA firms. The latest ARM subscriber license deal just announced is for Mentor Graphics. What makes their strategy unique?… Read More


Sustainability, Semiconductor Companies and Software Companies

Sustainability, Semiconductor Companies and Software Companies
by Daniel Payne on 02-25-2016 at 12:00 pm

I certainly want to leave the Earth a better place to live for my children and generations to come, so sustainability is a value that resonates with me. How is a consumer like me to know which companies are the most sustainable in areas that matter, like:… Read More


A Little More Quantum Computing

A Little More Quantum Computing
by Bernard Murphy on 02-25-2016 at 7:00 am

There’s another domain in Quantum Computing (QC) which periodically attracts headlines – Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). I thought this worth covering because it does not depend on the ability to do parallel computation on superposition states, so may not be as much at the mercy of limited coherence times. And ultimately… Read More


tinyAVR in 8 and 14 pin SOIC now self-programming

tinyAVR in 8 and 14 pin SOIC now self-programming
by Don Dingee on 02-24-2016 at 4:00 pm

At this week’s Embedded World 2016, Atmel is heading back to 8-bit old school with their news, straight to the low pin count end of their MCU portfolio with a significant upgrade to the tinyAVR family.

According to Atmel’s briefing package, development of the ATtiny102 and ATtiny104 has been in progress for some time.… Read More


Apple Google FaceBook and Person of Interest!

Apple Google FaceBook and Person of Interest!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-24-2016 at 12:00 pm

Apple, Google, and FaceBook are making significant investments in artificial intelligence (deep learning) and other advertising (snooping) enabling technology to better serve (exploit) their customers (us) and make trillions of dollars for their offshore accounts. This reminds me (in a very creepy way) of the TV series “Person… Read More


Neural Networks Ready for Embedded Platforms

Neural Networks Ready for Embedded Platforms
by Tom Simon on 02-24-2016 at 7:00 am

If you are not yet familiar with the term Convolutional Neural Networks, or CNN for short, you are certainly bound to become in the year ahead. Using Artificial Intelligence in the form of CNN is on the verge of replacing a large number of computing tasks, especially those involving recognizing things such as sounds, shapes, objects,… Read More


S2C opens up FPGA prototyping for PCIe fabrics

S2C opens up FPGA prototyping for PCIe fabrics
by Don Dingee on 02-23-2016 at 4:00 pm

Reconfigurable computing began with FPGA cards dropped into expansion slots in workstations. FPGA-based prototyping vendors tended away from that model as interconnect speeds rose and cabling complexity between modules increased. Much faster PCIe interfacing and bigger FPGAs mean revisiting the concept.… Read More