CAST Compression IP Webinar 800x100 (2)

Webinar: IP Lifecycle Management: What is it, what problems does it solve?

Webinar: IP Lifecycle Management: What is it, what problems does it solve?
by Daniel Nenni on 11-03-2013 at 11:00 am

SoC’s are now dominated by IP blocks sourced either from 3rd parties or internal design teams. This means that IP is now critical to the success of the SoC, yet it is part of the design that teams have the least control over, or visibility into. Most design teams utilize at best ad-hoc methods to manage this IP, and the few that utilize… Read More


SEMICO Impact 2013 Next Wednesday

SEMICO Impact 2013 Next Wednesday
by Paul McLellan on 11-01-2013 at 5:54 pm

Semico’s IMPACT 2013 IP event is next Wednesday November 6th at the DoubleTree Hilton in San Jose.

Here’s what you get if you attend. Keynotes from:

  • Kurt Shuler of Arteris. Give him some hard questions about Qualcomm who have just acquired their technology and engineering team
  • Chris Rowen of Tensilica, recently acquired
Read More

Using OTP Memories for High-performance Video

Using OTP Memories for High-performance Video
by Paul McLellan on 11-01-2013 at 4:15 pm

One of the most demanding applications where semiconductors are used is in the various applications of digital video from tablet computers, to home entertainment. iPad with a retina display is already at high-definition (HD) resolution (2048×1536) and all indications are that video is racing towards what is known as 4K… Read More


Is FD-SOI Smarter than Moore?

Is FD-SOI Smarter than Moore?
by Eric Esteve on 11-01-2013 at 12:03 pm

If you have read the excellent article from Paul McLellan, you know about FDSOI as a technology, so I will not come back to FDSOI device, and the comparison with FinFET in term of device topology, doping level and so on. If you missed it, I would recommend you to read this article, as well as the many comments (all of them being relevant).… Read More


Using Formal to Find Bugs in ARM Microprocessors

Using Formal to Find Bugs in ARM Microprocessors
by Paul McLellan on 11-01-2013 at 12:35 am

2.5x ROI vs simulation. 25% of bugs found for only 10% of the overall verification cost. 36% of bugs in a current CPU project. These impressive results for formal analysis are what ARM’s Laurent Arditi reported at JUG 2013 after painstaking recording of metrics over several production programs.


As you can see from the above graph,… Read More


I could show you the FPGA, but then I’d have to configure you

I could show you the FPGA, but then I’d have to configure you
by Don Dingee on 10-31-2013 at 6:00 pm

One of the present ironies of the Internet of Things is as it seeks to connect every device on the planet, we are still designing those things with largely unconnected EDA tools. We may share libraries and source files on a server somewhere, but that is just the beginning of connection.

It is not surprising that synthesis tools from… Read More


ARM and the Internet of Things

ARM and the Internet of Things
by Paul McLellan on 10-31-2013 at 6:00 pm

I was at ARM TechCon earlier this week, and attended Simon Segars (the CEO of ARM for the last 4 months) keynote speech that opened the second day. A theme of his speech was that just as innovation continues to happen in so-called mature industries like automobiles, the same will happen in mobile. One particular area of focus for ARM… Read More


Intel is Killing the Environment!

Intel is Killing the Environment!
by Daniel Nenni on 10-31-2013 at 6:00 pm

If I had to sum up opening day at ARM TechCon 2013 in one word it would be “crowded”. More than twice as many people attended as last year with 6,500 preregistered. The opening keynote was “The New Style of IT” pimping the HP Moonshot systems, but it could have just as easily been called “Why Intel Stock is Dead Money”,… Read More


Qualcomm and Arteris: the CEO Speaks

Qualcomm and Arteris: the CEO Speaks
by Paul McLellan on 10-31-2013 at 5:25 pm

Arteris finally announced this morning, as rumored, that Qualcomm is acquiring “certain technology assets” and hired personnel formerly employed by Arteris. The financial terms were not disclosed.

I talked to Charlie Janac, the CEO, today. The first thing I asked him is why such a convoluted deal, I’ve never… Read More


Device Noise Analysis of Switched-Cap Circuits

Device Noise Analysis of Switched-Cap Circuits
by Daniel Payne on 10-31-2013 at 12:00 pm

Switched-capacitor circuits are used in most CMOS mixed-signal ICs as:

  • Track and hold circuits
  • Integrators
  • Operational Amplifiers
  • Delta-sigma modulators


​Delta-Sigma Modulator: IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 43, no. 12, pp 2601-2612, Dec. 2008Read More