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A Tool Conceived With Designers’ Input and Developed from Scratch

A Tool Conceived With Designers’ Input and Developed from Scratch
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-12-2014 at 10:15 am

If we look at the past, most of the EDA tools in the semiconductor design space have originated from a designers’ need to do things faster. Regardless of whether it is design exploration, manual design, simulation, verification, optimization (Power Performance Area – PPA) and many other steps in the overall design flow.… Read More


Now even I can spot bad UVM

Now even I can spot bad UVM
by Don Dingee on 03-11-2014 at 8:30 pm

Most programmers can read a code snippet and spot errors, given enough hours in the day, sufficient caffeine, and the right lens prescription. As lines of code run rampant, with more unfamiliar third-party code in the mix, interprocedural and data flow issues become more important – and harder to spot.

Verification IP particularly… Read More


DSP running 10 times faster at ultra-low voltage?

DSP running 10 times faster at ultra-low voltage?
by Eric Esteve on 03-11-2014 at 12:30 pm

The LETI and STMicro have demonstrated a DSP that can hit 500 MHz while pulling just 460mV – that’s ten times better than anything the industry’s seen so far. Implemented on a 28nm FD-SOI technology, with ultra thin forward body biasing (UTFBB) capability (used to decrease Vth), this DSP can also be exercised at higher voltage when… Read More


The Infamous Intel FPGA Slide!

The Infamous Intel FPGA Slide!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-11-2014 at 10:30 am

As I have mentioned before, I’m part of the Coleman Research Group so you can rent me by the hour to better understand the semiconductor industry. Most of the conversations are by phone but sometimes I do travel to the East Coast, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China for face-to-face meetings. Generally the calls are the result of an event … Read More


Effective Verification Coverage through UVM & MDV

Effective Verification Coverage through UVM & MDV
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-10-2014 at 5:00 pm

In the current semiconductor design landscape, the design size and complexity of SoCs has grown to large extent with stable tools and technologies that can take care of integrating several IPs together. With that mammoth growth in designs, verification flows are evolving continuously to tackle the verification challenges … Read More


Intelligent Sensors

Intelligent Sensors
by Paul McLellan on 03-10-2014 at 3:48 pm

Wearables are clearly one of the hot areas of the Internet of Things (IoT). A big part of that market is sensors of one sort or another. Andes low power microprocessors are a good fit for this market which requires both 32 bit performance and ultra low power. Performance is needed since IoT by definition has internet access in some way… Read More


EDAC Update: Elections, Kaufman and More

EDAC Update: Elections, Kaufman and More
by Paul McLellan on 03-10-2014 at 3:24 pm

I wrote recently about the EDAC mixer in Mountain View. Due to college basketball there won’t be one in March, the next one will be in April. Details later in the month.

The EDA Consortium (EDAC) is seeking nominations for the Board of Directors for the two-year term beginning May 29, 2014. Voting member companies are entitled… Read More


WordPress and EDA Software, How Do They Compare?

WordPress and EDA Software, How Do They Compare?
by Daniel Payne on 03-09-2014 at 8:34 pm

I first started using WordPress in 2008 after having written my own Content Management System (CMS) to build and manage web sites. WordPress is the number one CMS in the world, is just 10 years old, and is used by over 70 million users. What got me thinking about WordPress and EDA software companies was a recent book by Scott Burken, … Read More


Internet of Things and the Wearable Market

Internet of Things and the Wearable Market
by Daniel Nenni on 03-09-2014 at 8:00 pm

My wife and I drove to Southern California last week in search of information on the wearable computing market. After stops in Irvine, San Diego, and some play time in La Jolla we returned in time for the CASPA Symposium: “The Wearable Future: Moving Beyond the Hype; the Search for the Holy Grail and Practical Use Cases”Read More


Semiconductor Strategy – From Productivity to Profitability

Semiconductor Strategy – From Productivity to Profitability
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-08-2014 at 8:30 am

The semiconductor industry seems to be the most challenged in terms of cost of error; a delay of 3 months in product development cycle can reduce revenue by about 27% and that of 6 months can reduce it by almost half; competition is rife, pushing the products to next generation (with more functionality, low power, high performance,… Read More