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Analyzing Power Nets Early and Often, a New White Paper

Analyzing Power Nets Early and Often, a New White Paper
by Paul McLellan on 02-22-2015 at 7:00 am

One of the big challenges in designing ICs today is designing a robust power net capable of delivering necessary current levels to all areas of the die. Getting it wrong can, of course, lead to circuit failures that range from non-functional silicon, through intermittent performance and functional problems, to early EM-driven… Read More


IoT Sensor Node Designs Call for Highly Integrated Flows

IoT Sensor Node Designs Call for Highly Integrated Flows
by Tom Simon on 02-21-2015 at 7:00 pm

Applications for IoT sensors are becoming more sophisticated, especially for industrial usage. Building optimal sensors for different applications requires multi-domain design, optimization and verification flows. The sensor devices are usually MEMS, and as such have electrical properties that need to be tailored to … Read More


The PTAB Inter Partes Review process: Danger, Will Robinson

The PTAB Inter Partes Review process: Danger, Will Robinson
by Scott Griffith on 02-21-2015 at 7:00 am

Companies with significant investment in their patent portfolios have recently faced a harsh reality: their intellectual property has become a collection of paper with large targets on them. Taking aim is the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trials and Appeal Board (PTAB), and recent figures on dismissed claims shows… Read More


SPIE Advanced Lithography Preview

SPIE Advanced Lithography Preview
by Scotten Jones on 02-20-2015 at 1:00 pm

Next week is the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference in San Jose, the premier conference for advanced lithography used to produce state-of-the-art semiconductors. Last year I blogged after the conference about some of the key points I heard at the conference and this year I plan to do the same.

Last year’s blog is available HERERead More


Synopsys Earnings Call Q1 2015

Synopsys Earnings Call Q1 2015
by Paul McLellan on 02-20-2015 at 7:00 am

Synopsys announced their results yesterday. Their 2014 already ended, this is the end of their fiscal first quarter. On the call were Aart, one of Synopsys’s two co-CEOs, the other being Chi-Foon Chan; and Trac Pham, the new CFO on his first earnings call.

Synopsys’s results were good. A quick look at the results. Revenue was $542M… Read More


FinFET Designs Need Early Reliability Analysis

FinFET Designs Need Early Reliability Analysis
by Pawan Fangaria on 02-19-2015 at 9:30 pm

In a world with mobile and IoT devices driven by ultra-low power, high performance and small footprint transistors, FinFET based designs are ideal. FinFETs provide high current drive, low leakage and high device density. However, a FinFET transistor is more exposed to thermal issues, electro migration (EM), and electrostatic… Read More


Mentor and ASSET Intertech Do a DFT World Tour

Mentor and ASSET Intertech Do a DFT World Tour
by Beth Martin on 02-19-2015 at 1:01 pm

The Mentor Graphics test folks and ASSET Intertech have teamed up to provide a series of free DFT seminars in the US, Europe, and Asia. The first one is in Austin, TX on February 19, 2015, and the last is in Tokyo on April 24. Hereis the full list of locations and dates.

The morning session covers IJTAG. The new IEEE 1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG)… Read More


Earnings Calls: Behind the Scenes

Earnings Calls: Behind the Scenes
by Paul McLellan on 02-19-2015 at 7:00 am

Last weekend I wrote about the Applied Materials earnings call. And over the last couple of years I’ve written about lots of other earnings calls. Most people have never been on an earnings call, I mean in the conference room where the call is being conducted, not just listening. So I thought it might be interesting to describe how … Read More


Mentor shows post-PC industrial device approach

Mentor shows post-PC industrial device approach
by Don Dingee on 02-18-2015 at 9:00 pm

The term “human machine interface” originated from the factory floor. In the context of HMI, machine refers not to the computer, but to a machine tool or other instrument the computer was attached to. For decades, if an HMI was needed, it was implemented on a PC or single-board computer running Microsoft Windows. Real-time processing… Read More


MEMS Require 3D Field Solver for Accurate Cap Values

MEMS Require 3D Field Solver for Accurate Cap Values
by Tom Simon on 02-18-2015 at 9:00 am

MEMS devices have become extremely important and common. Freescale last year reported its combined MEMS shipments exceeded 2 billion units. If we just examine how many accelerometers we each probably own today, it is easy to see why the market for these products is growing so rapidly. The first and most obvious device is our cell… Read More