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eSilicon Creates One-Click Access to MPW and GDSII Quoting Portals

eSilicon Creates One-Click Access to MPW and GDSII Quoting Portals
by Paul McLellan on 10-23-2014 at 7:00 am

I have written before about eSilicon taking their internal quoting tool and making it user accessible. This first started just for MPW shuttles for half-a-dozen foundries, and then was extended to cover production runs at TSMC. And it is getting heavily used; eSilicon have had 315 people register to use it from 43 different countries… Read More


Virtual Platform Powers AUTOSAR Software Development

Virtual Platform Powers AUTOSAR Software Development
by Pawan Fangaria on 10-23-2014 at 12:00 am

As a significant part of our life is spent in travelling, it’s natural that automotive sector continues to get traction with a significant push towards electronics and automated solutions for automobiles such as cars to provide safety, comfort and entertainment. These solutions are provided by complete systems which operate… Read More


Two New Announcements at ITC from Synopsys

Two New Announcements at ITC from Synopsys
by Daniel Payne on 10-22-2014 at 4:00 pm

Each year at the International Test Conference(ITC) we hear about the latest advances from the testability side of both EDA vendors and academics. This year Aart de Geus, Chairman and Co-CEO of Synopsys delivered a keynote speech titled, “Testing Positive, for Complexity“. Yesterday I spoke with Robert Ruiz and… Read More


SecureCore: secure MPU for IoT

SecureCore: secure MPU for IoT
by Eric Esteve on 10-22-2014 at 8:44 am

The evaluation of the number of connected (IoT) systems by 2020 varies depending on the source, but we should see in the range of 30 billion IoT devices by that date. We already know some of the basic requirements: such a device will have to be connected, low cost, ultra-low power and… secure. The first three are key enablers, but we … Read More


SEMI Strategic Materials Conference and SEMICON Japan

SEMI Strategic Materials Conference and SEMICON Japan
by Paul McLellan on 10-22-2014 at 7:01 am

I attended the SEMI Strategic Materials Conference earlier this month. I cover a pretty broad range of stuff on SemiWiki from embedded software and system-level design on down. But I usually stop at lithography and TCAD, which have a major impact on design and the whole fabless ecosystem. I hadn’t really thought about the… Read More


There’s good news about BadUSB

There’s good news about BadUSB
by Bill Boldt on 10-22-2014 at 4:00 am

The good news about the recently-revealed BadUSB is that there actually is a cure: Hardware crypto engines were invented to protect software, firmware and hardware from exactly these types of attacks, among many others. These uber-tiny, ultra secure hardware devices can be easily and cost-effectively added to USB sticks (andRead More


Crossfire on Continuous Path of Improvement

Crossfire on Continuous Path of Improvement
by Pawan Fangaria on 10-21-2014 at 10:00 pm

In an ever growing world of IPs, it’s essential that a tool which vouches to simplify designer’s job of IP development and help improving its quality remains versatile to encompass various formats, databases, common data models, standard libraries, scripting etc. that are used in the development of IPs and their exchange between… Read More


Processor for Internet-of-Things (IoT)

Processor for Internet-of-Things (IoT)
by barun on 10-21-2014 at 4:00 pm

Due to increasing proliferation of sensors in our everyday lives, evolution of IoT is natural. The mix of different building blocks with different speed-power-performance constraints makes IoT as the hottest upcoming application area for semiconductor IP vendors. The System-on-Chips (SoCs) coming up in this area typically… Read More


How Lucio Lanza Got Into EDA

How Lucio Lanza Got Into EDA
by Paul McLellan on 10-21-2014 at 7:01 am

Lucio Lanza is this year’s recipient of the Kaufman award. Unlike most recipients, Lucio worked closely with Phil Kaufman earlier in his career. I met with him at his office in Palo Alto to hear the story.

Even if you have never met him, it would be a reasonable guess from his name that Lucio Lanza is Italian. And you’d be right. He grew… Read More


Power Management Policies for Android Devices

Power Management Policies for Android Devices
by Daniel Payne on 10-20-2014 at 10:00 pm

I’ll never forget the shock when I upgraded from a Feature Phone to my first Android-powered SmartPhone, because all of a sudden my battery life went from 6 days down to only 1 day between charges. As a consumer, I really want my battery to last much longer than one day, so the race is on for mobile phone companies to design their… Read More