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Correct by Construction Semiconductor IP

Correct by Construction Semiconductor IP
by Daniel Payne on 10-29-2013 at 11:23 am

Semiconductor IP re-use enables modern SoC designs to be realized in a timely fashion, yet with hundreds of IP blocks in a chip the chances are higher that an error in any IP block could cause the entire system to fail. At advanced nodes like 28nm and smaller, the number of Process, Voltage and Temperature (PVT) corners is increasing… Read More


MEMS in The World of ICs – How to Quickly Verify?

MEMS in The World of ICs – How to Quickly Verify?
by Pawan Fangaria on 10-29-2013 at 10:00 am

In the modern electronic world, it’s difficult to imagine any system working as a whole without MEMS (Micro-electromechanical Systems) such as pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones etc. working in sync with other ICs. Specifically in AMS (Analog Mixed-Signal) semiconductor designs, there can be significant… Read More


TSMC ♥ Mentor (Calibre PERC)

TSMC ♥ Mentor (Calibre PERC)
by Daniel Nenni on 10-29-2013 at 8:00 am

As semiconductors become more integrated into our lives reliability is becoming a critical issue. As IP consumes more of our die, IP reliability is becoming a critical issue. As we pack more transistors into a chip, reliability is becoming a critical issue. As we move from 28nm to 20nm to 16nm, reliability is becoming a critical … Read More


Pigs Fly. Altera Goes with ARM on Intel 14nm

Pigs Fly. Altera Goes with ARM on Intel 14nm
by Paul McLellan on 10-29-2013 at 7:00 am

Altera announced in February that they would be using Intel as a foundry at 14nm. Historically they have used TSMC. Then in June they announced the Stratix 10 family of FPGAs that they would build on the Intel process. At the Globalpress summit in May I asked Vince Hu about their processor strategy. Here is what I wrote about itat the… Read More


Diagnosing Double Patterning Violations

Diagnosing Double Patterning Violations
by Beth Martin on 10-28-2013 at 5:16 pm

I’ll bet you’ve read a bunch of stuff about double patterning, and you’re probably hoping that the design tools will make all your double patterning issues just go away. Well, the truth is that the foundries and EDA vendors have worked really hard to make that true.

However, for some critical portions of your design, there … Read More


Getting the Most Out of the ARM CoreLink™ NIC-400

Getting the Most Out of the ARM CoreLink™ NIC-400
by Daniel Payne on 10-28-2013 at 12:27 pm

SoC designers are attracted to ARM as an IP provider because of their popular offerings and growing ecosystem of EDA partners like Carbon Design Systems. At the upcoming ARM Techcon on October 31 this week in Santa Clara you’ll have an opportunity to hear a joint presentation from ARM and Carbon Design Systems on: Getting Read More


Cadence’s Mixed-Signal Technology Summit

Cadence’s Mixed-Signal Technology Summit
by Randy Smith on 10-28-2013 at 1:45 am

On October 10, I attended another Cadence Summit, this one titled the Cadence Mixed-Signal Technology Summit. Recently, I had written about the Cadence Silicon Verification Summit. The verification event was the first of its kind, and I thought it had terrific content. Being more of a digital guy myself, I was unaware that Cadence… Read More


Smartphones Are More Amazing That You Can Believe

Smartphones Are More Amazing That You Can Believe
by Paul McLellan on 10-27-2013 at 10:09 pm

I’ve written before about just how widespread mobile phones are: more people use mobile phones that a a toothbrush and more know how to use one than to use a pencil to write. This all happened very recently. I bet if you are asked when you got your first mobile phone you will guess too early. I had a car-phone in 1993 and a real mobile… Read More


Let’s comment… a comment from Sonics (about Arteris)

Let’s comment… a comment from Sonics (about Arteris)
by Eric Esteve on 10-27-2013 at 2:00 pm

We still don’t know the precise status about a potential acquisition of Arteris by Qualcomm, and I prefer not to comment a rumor and wait for the official announcement, if any. But I would like to comment … a comment about this rumor, recently made by Sonics. This comment has taken the form of an Open Letter, from “Grant Pierce, CEO of… Read More


Open Letter from Sonics to Arteris

Open Letter from Sonics to Arteris
by Paul McLellan on 10-27-2013 at 2:00 pm

I don’t remember seeing an open letter from one EDA or IP company to another until today. Sonics have published an open letter to Charlie Janac, the CEO of Arteris. What seems to have happened is that Arteris have sold their assets to Qualcomm and the development team (which is based in France) and several AEs are already Qualcomm… Read More