Managing any design data management system requires a policy on how often users should be submitting their changes to the central repository. If users commit frequently with less local testing then other users will more likely see errors. If commits are done less often, but with better testing, then other users are protected from… Read More




Power Management Gets Tricky in IP Driven World
Today, an SoC can have multiple instances of an IP and also instances of many different IPs from different vendors. Every instance of an IP can work in a separate mode and requires a dedicated power arrangement which may only be formalized at the implementation stage. The power intent, if specified earlier, will need to be re-generated… Read More
3 Key Frontiers for Samsung’s Next Mobile SoC
Samsung’s Exynos 7420 system-on-chip (SoC) is now at the top of the world when it comes to performance and power efficiency benchmarks. It’s also won accolades as the first mobile chipset manufactured using the 14nm FinFET fabrication process.
However, the mobile chipsets landscape is hypercompetitive, and there… Read More
Circuit Simulation Update from #52DAC
Actual users of circuit simulators told their design and simulation stories at DAC during a luncheon sponsored by Synopsys on June 8th. I always prefer to hear from a design engineer versus a marketing person about what tool they use for circuit simulation, and how it helps them analyze their design goals. This year there were engineers… Read More
Xilinx Datacenter on a Chip
I talked recently about the Intel acquisition of Altera which seems to be all about using FPGA technology to build custom accelerators for the datacenter. Some algorithms, especially in search, vision, video and so on map much better onto a hardware fabric than being implemented in code on a regular microprocessor.
So if the heart… Read More
Why Automotive IP Portfolio is not just IP
Synopsys is launching a broad IP portfolio to support SoC development dedicated to emerging automotive complexes functions, like Driver Assistance (ADAS), Driver Information, Vehicle Network or Infotainment. I was never involved into IC design for Automotive, but I have designed ASIC for avionics (CFM56 motor control) or… Read More
Gary Smith Passed Away Last Friday
I expect most of you have already heard the sad news through other channels: Gary Smith died last Friday, July 3rd, from pneumonia in Flagstaff, Arizona.
I must have first met Gary back in Dataquest days when I was at VLSI Technology. Gartner then acquired Dataquest and eventually shut down the EDA practice and laid Gary off. He then… Read More
SEMICON West Preview
Founded in 1971 (2015: 45th year), SEMICON West 2015 is coming to the Moscone Center in San Francisco on from Tuesday, July 14[SUP]th[/SUP] to Thursday, July 16[SUP]th[/SUP]. SEMICON is the premier show for equipment and materials companies supporting the semiconductor, MEMS and solar industries.
The main ways to get value … Read More
Apple Watch – A Great New Design, Needs More
During 52[SUP]nd[/SUP] DAC, there was a special session where a brand new Apple watch was opened and each of its components was shown with a brief description about it. I found this tear down session a great innovative idea coming from DAC organizers; actually two buzzing products, AppleWatch and DJI’s Phantom Drone were opened… Read More
Opportunity NoCs, But Not Without Software
It is easy to think that semiconductor IP is all about structures on the silicon. After all, there is “semiconductor” in the phrase “semiconductor IP”. But increasingly the heart is actually software. Sonics’ SGN product is a network-on-chip but to build it you need to use the software that actually… Read More
Flynn Was Right: How a 2003 Warning Foretold Today’s Architectural Pivot