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Verilog-AMS connects T-SPICE and Riviera-PRO

Verilog-AMS connects T-SPICE and Riviera-PRO
by Don Dingee on 12-20-2014 at 7:00 am

With advances in available IP, mixed signal design has become much easier. Mixed signal verification on the other hand is becoming more complicated. More complexity means more simulation, and in the analog domain, SPICE-based techniques grinding away on transistor models take a lot of precious time. Event-driven methods like… Read More


An Approach to Top-Down SoC Verification

An Approach to Top-Down SoC Verification
by Daniel Payne on 12-19-2014 at 1:00 pm

We’ve blogged dozens of times about UVM– Universal Verification Methodology at SemiWiki, and all of the major EDA vendors support UVM, so you may be lulled into thinking that UVM is totally adequate for top-down SoC verification. Yesterday I had a phone discussion with Frank Schirrmeister of Cadence about a new approach… Read More


A Brief History of Silicon Frontline

A Brief History of Silicon Frontline
by Paul McLellan on 12-19-2014 at 7:00 am

Silicon Frontline was founded in 2007 by Yuri Feinberg. Since then the company has built up a team with expertise in computational geometry, circuit layout, circuit simulation and analysis, and post-layout verification. After a small initial funding, Silicon Frontline has continued to grow, acquiring new customers even over… Read More


Why an Arduino Gift Might Make Your Holiday Shopping Easier

Why an Arduino Gift Might Make Your Holiday Shopping Easier
by Tom Simon on 12-18-2014 at 7:00 pm

If you happen to still be looking for a Christmas gift for a tech savvy youth, the answer to your search may be an Arduino. This funny sounding word is the name for a family of easy to use low cost circuit boards and related items used to build projects that contain a microcontroller. With an Arduino it is possible to build projects with… Read More


Semiconductor Capacity Utilization Rising

Semiconductor Capacity Utilization Rising
by Bill Jewell on 12-18-2014 at 5:00 pm

Semiconductor capacity utilization (the ratio of production to capacity) appears to be on the rise, based on available data. Reliable global industry capacity data has not been available since Semiconductor Industry Capacity Statistics (SICAS) disbanded in 2011.

TSMC and UMC (the two largest pure-play foundries according… Read More


ASIC Days Are Here Again

ASIC Days Are Here Again
by Paul McLellan on 12-18-2014 at 7:00 am

Technology often goes in cycles. Thirty years ago the dominant mode of computing was a shared computing resource with comparatively dumb terminals. Think of a Vax accessed by terminals. Then workstations and the PC came along and the dominant mode became a computer on everyone’s desk. Then the smartphone came along and … Read More


What is Ambient Security?

What is Ambient Security?
by Bill Boldt on 12-17-2014 at 7:00 pm

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New technology and business buzzwords pop up constantly. Hardly a day goes by that you don’t see or hear words such as “cloud”, “IoT,” or “big data.” Let’s add one more to the list: “Ambient security.”


You’ll notice that big data, the cloud, and the IoT are all connected, literally and figuratively, and that is the point. Billions … Read More


Lead, follow, or catch the next Silicon Valley wave

Lead, follow, or catch the next Silicon Valley wave
by Don Dingee on 12-17-2014 at 2:00 pm

What does the IoT mean for the next wave of Silicon Valley innovators? Looking at the previous waves of semiconductor economic development and the doctrine of “creative destruction” holds clues as to how this one develops and who emerges as the new leaders.

Given seven decades of progress, it may seem semiconductor firms on top … Read More


Cuba No? Cuba Si!

Cuba No? Cuba Si!
by Eric Esteve on 12-17-2014 at 7:30 am

We are writing technical blogs all along the year, sometime it’s good to write about something completely different. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to write any geo-political analysis, neither propose tourism advertising for Cuba. I just wish to share with you the feeling you have when spending a few weeks in Cuba like I did in the mid … Read More


Expert Tool to Easily Debug RTL and Reuse in SoCs

Expert Tool to Easily Debug RTL and Reuse in SoCs
by Pawan Fangaria on 12-16-2014 at 7:00 pm

SoC design these days has become a complex and tricky phenomenon involving integration of multiple IPs and legacy RTL code which could be in different languages, sourced from various third parties across the globe. Understanding and reusing RTL code is imperative in SoC integration which needs capable tools that can accommodate… Read More