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Sewn open: Arduino and soft electronics

Sewn open: Arduino and soft electronics
by Don Dingee on 03-19-2014 at 3:00 pm

As several other recent threads on SemiWiki have pointed out, the term “wearables” is a bit amorphous right now. The most recognizable wearable endeavors so far are the smartwatch and fitness band, but these are far from the only categories of interest.

There is another area of wearable wonder beginning to get attention: clothing,… Read More


Triple Patterning

Triple Patterning
by Paul McLellan on 03-19-2014 at 1:00 pm

As you can’t have failed to notice by now, 28nm is the last process node that does not require double patterning. At 20nm and below, at least some layers require double patterning. The tightest spacing is typically not the transistors but the local interconnect and, sometimes, metal 1.


In the litho world they call double patterning… Read More


Aldec the leader in DO254

Aldec the leader in DO254
by Luke Miller on 03-19-2014 at 12:00 pm

I am convinced after studying out the matter, that Aldec is one of the leaders in DO254 certification. As you listen and read the news as I do about flight MA-370, you keep theorizing and wondering. This is a good time to introduce the reader to the seriousness of flight worthy electronics and the arduous process to achieve certification.Read More


Xilinx’s UltraScale vs Arria 10 – Non dolet, Paete

Xilinx’s UltraScale vs Arria 10 – Non dolet, Paete
by Luke Miller on 03-18-2014 at 9:30 pm

The DSP48E2 (I do not come up with these names… Could have named it a multiplier thingy) in the Xilinx 20nm UltraScale family (I do not come up with these names… Could of named it Virtex-8, or Luke-8) is simply amazing. Today was good, as I began playing with UltraScale tools and seeing how the DSP checks out. I also encourage you to check… Read More


Atmel on Tour at AT&T Park

Atmel on Tour at AT&T Park
by Paul McLellan on 03-18-2014 at 5:02 pm

OK, it’s not exactly AT&T park…it’s the parking lot. But they have a huge semi loaded up with lots of cool Atmel stuff to show off some of the things that their customers are doing with their microcontrollers and display technology, primarily focused on the internet of things (IoT). I went down to check it … Read More


Social Media at Carbon Design Systems

Social Media at Carbon Design Systems
by Daniel Payne on 03-18-2014 at 11:12 am

Started in 2002 Carbon Design Systems has ESL (Electronic System Level) modeling and validation tools for complex SoC design. With their software you can:

  • Perform system level model generation of existing and 3rd party IP directly from RTL for use in any virtual platform
  • Do performance analysis & optimization of SoC architectures
Read More

Mentor U2U Is On April 10th

Mentor U2U Is On April 10th
by Paul McLellan on 03-17-2014 at 7:19 pm

If you are a Mentor user, U2U, the Mentor User group is coming up on April 10th. This is an all day event at the DoubleTree. The event is free. Registration starts at 8am and the agenda itself starts at 9am. There is a reception from 5-6pm in the evening.

There are three keynotes. At 9am: Wally Rhines, CEO of Mentor. The Big Squeeze. For … Read More


A Fill Solution for 20nm at TSMC

A Fill Solution for 20nm at TSMC
by glforte on 03-17-2014 at 5:12 pm

By Jeff Wilson, Mentor Graphics

We’ve talked about the new requirements for Fill in IC design for advanced nodes in previous blogs on this site. This time I’d like describe the fill solution that Mentor and TSMC have jointly developed to meet the requirements of fill for TSMC’s 20nm (N20) manufacturing process.

The traditional… Read More


GSA Silicon Summit Is On April 10th

GSA Silicon Summit Is On April 10th
by Paul McLellan on 03-17-2014 at 1:01 pm

The annual GSA Silicon Summit is coming up in a few weeks. It is on April 10th at the Computer History Museum. Registration is at 9am and the meeting itself gets started at 9.45am. The summit finishes at 2.15pm. There are three sections during the day, and lunch is provided.

The first section is on Advancements in Nanoscale ManufacturingRead More