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Wanna Buy A Blackberry?

Wanna Buy A Blackberry?
by Paul McLellan on 08-13-2013 at 2:26 pm

So Blackberry (formerly known as Research In Motion or RIM) is up for sale. Basically, apart from some cash in the bank, its main value now seems to be patents and, perhaps, some security technology. The murderers are in Cupertino and Mountain View, Apple’s iPhone (and iPad) and Google’s Android along with its licensees,… Read More


How Resistant to Neutrons Are Your Storage Elements?

How Resistant to Neutrons Are Your Storage Elements?
by Paul McLellan on 08-13-2013 at 1:01 pm

There are two ways to see how resistant your designs are to single-event errors (SEE). One is to take the chip or even the entire system and put it in a neutron beam and measure how many problems occur in this extreme environment. While that may be a necessary part of qualification in some very high reliability situations, it is also … Read More


Electronic System Level: Gary Smith

Electronic System Level: Gary Smith
by Paul McLellan on 08-12-2013 at 5:07 pm

Gary Smith has been talking about how the electronic system level (ESL) is where the future of EDA lies as design teams move up to higher levels encompassing IP blocks, high level synthesis, software development using virtual platforms and so on. At DAC this year in Austin he talked about how the fact that EDA controls the modeling… Read More


The Most Disturbing Economic Graphs Ever!

The Most Disturbing Economic Graphs Ever!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-11-2013 at 7:00 pm

After driving to Silicon Valley for the past 30 years I am acutely aware of traffic patterns and to me that directly relates to the economy. The recession of 2009 really hit traffic patterns with what I would estimate as a 20% unemployment rate in Silicon Valley. I could leave my home in Danville anytime of the day and have no traffic … Read More


RTL Design For Power

RTL Design For Power
by Daniel Payne on 08-11-2013 at 2:25 pm

My Samsung Galaxy Note II lasts about two days on a single battery charge, which is quite the improvement from the Galaxy Note I with only a one day battery charge. Mobile SoCs are being constrained by battery life limitations, and consumers love longer-laster devices.

There are at least two approaches to Design For Power:

  • Gate-level
Read More

Robust Design <- Robust Flow <- Robust Tools

Robust Design <- Robust Flow <- Robust Tools
by Pawan Fangaria on 08-10-2013 at 6:00 pm

I could have written the sequence of the title in reverse order, but no, design is the one which initiates the need of a particular flow and the flow needs support of EDA tools to satisfy that need. It’s okay if the design is small; some manual procedures and workarounds/scripts may be able to perform certain jobs. However, as the design… Read More


Intel Is Continuing to Scale While Others Pause

Intel Is Continuing to Scale While Others Pause
by Paul McLellan on 08-09-2013 at 11:52 am

Back in May, William Holt, EVP of technology and manufacturing at Intel gave a presentation to analysts entitled Advancing Moore’s Law, Imperatives and Opportunity. A pdf of the presentation is available here. I just saw it for the first time today and I’m not sure how to get my head around it. It starts off with a lot … Read More


How To Connect Your Cell-phone Camera

How To Connect Your Cell-phone Camera
by Paul McLellan on 08-08-2013 at 5:31 pm

Your cell-phone contains a camera. In fact, it probably contains two: one forward facing for video-calls and one rear-facing for taking photographs and videos. The rear-facing one typically has much higher pixel count than the front-facing. The capabilities of cell-phone cameras are getting “good enough” that… Read More


SEMICON Taiwan 3D

SEMICON Taiwan 3D
by Paul McLellan on 08-08-2013 at 3:10 pm

SEMICON Taiwan is September 3rd to 6th in TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall. Just as with Semicon West in July in San Francisco, there is lots going on. But one special focus is 3D IC. There is a 3DIC and substrate pavilion on the exhibit floor and an Advanced Packaging Symposium. Design tools, manufacturing, packaging and testing solutions… Read More


TSMC is a more profitable semiconductor company than Intel

TSMC is a more profitable semiconductor company than Intel
by Daniel Nenni on 08-07-2013 at 9:00 pm

There is an interesting article on Seeking Alpha, “A More Profitable Semiconductor Company Than Intel”, and for a change the author does not PRETEND to know semiconductor technology. Refreshing! Personally I think the stock market is a racket where insiders profit at the expense of the masses. But if you are going to gamble you … Read More