I was tempted to call this piece “if you’re not using an FPGA, you’re doing it wrong,” but that didn’t quite capture the whole picture. Social memes aside, the FPGA as we know it is undergoing a serious transformation into a full blown SoC, and 2014 is the year that will usher in one of the biggest changes in the history of embedded design.… Read More





Early Thermal and Power Simulation Using Virtual Prototyping for Pedestrian Detection Applications
In the 1970’s we designed ICs first and when silicon came back then we measured the power and junction temperature. At that time there were no EDA simulation tools or models for full-chip power and temperature analysis. Fast forward to 2013 and we find that temperature and power are still demanding requirements for MPSoC … Read More
Will You Take the Password Pill?
As smartphone and tablet makers desperately search for points of differentiation they will try to push the limits of performance on several fronts to extremes. The password pill and the display-cover display are two of the stranger extreme features on the way.
Extreme inter-connectivity is one of the more useful features that… Read More
Raised on radio: RPUs target autos and wearables
We’ve become familiar with Imagination Technologies as a leading provider of IP for mobile GPUs, and within the last year the acquisition of the MIPS architecture has established them further in NPU and SoC circles. Their latest move targets an IP solution more in line with their heritage.
Imagination, way before becoming famous… Read More
Intel Wafer Pricing Exposed!
One of the big questions on Intel’s foundry strategy is: Can they compete on wafer pricing? Fortunately there are now detailed reports that support what most of us fabless folks already know. The simple answer is no, Intel cannot compete with TSMC or Samsung on wafer pricing at 28nm, 20nm, and 14nm.
In fact, recent reports have shown… Read More
Macro Placement Challenges
One of the challenges of physical design of a modern SoC is that of macro placement. Back when a design just had a few macros then the flooplanning could be handled largely manually. But modern SoCs suffer from a number of problems. A new white paper from Mentor covers Olympus-SOCs features to address these issues:
- As we move to smaller
Get into a Xilinx FPGA for Under $90
Jump into Xilinx Programmable Logic today! I wanted to encourage my dear readers if you have not tried using an Xilinx FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or even CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) then it is worth your time to begin your evaluation. Maybe you got one for Christmas? If not, it is easier than you think to start… Read More
Patterns looking inside, not just between, logic cells
Traditional logic testing relies on blasting pattern after pattern at the inputs, trying to exercise combinations to shake faults out of logic and hopefully have them manifested at an observable pin, be it a test point or a final output stage. It’s a remarkably inefficient process with a lot of randomness and luck involved.
Getting… Read More
Smart Watch, Phone, Phablet, Tablet, Thin Notebook…?
There are more, but wait a while, from this set which ones do you need? Or let me ask the question differently (I know you may like something impulsively and have money to buy), which ones do you want to buy and own? Still confused? I guess what you need, you already have, but you want to change it for something new and different. While I … Read More
Highest Test Quality in Shortest Time – It’s Possible!
Traditionally ATPG (Automatic Test Pattern Generation) and BIST (Built-In-Self-Test) are the two approaches for testing the whole semiconductor design squeezed on an IC; ATPG requires external test equipment and test vectors to test targeted faults, BIST circuit is implemented on chip along with the functional logic of IC.… Read More
Musk’s new job as Samsung Fab Manager – Can he disrupt chip making? Intel outside