800x100 Webinar (1)

Signal integrity: more than just SerDes analysis

Signal integrity: more than just SerDes analysis
by Don Dingee on 03-29-2013 at 1:00 am

When Cadence acquired Sigrity in 2012, two motives were involved: get more competitive in state of the art signal integrity analysis, and grab a foothold into the other vendor’s PCB flows in an area that is developing as a real sore spot for digital designers.

Just as the days where PCB tape-out meant actually using tape are over, … Read More


TSMC on Collaboration: JIT Ecosystem Development

TSMC on Collaboration: JIT Ecosystem Development
by Paul McLellan on 03-27-2013 at 2:02 pm

Cliff Hou of TSMC gave the keynote today at SNUG on Collaborate to Innovate: a Foundry’s Perspective. Starting around 45nm the way that a foundry has to work with its ecosystem fundamentally changed. Up until then, each process generation was similar enough to the previous one, apart obviously from size, that it could be … Read More


Apple and Google Turn Towards Enterprise

Apple and Google Turn Towards Enterprise
by Ed McKernan on 03-27-2013 at 9:00 am

As a calm settles over the mobile market, post the overhyped Samsung Galaxy S4 launch, many analysts are at a loss as to describe a way forward with Apple that is understandable and positive. The dozens of reports that focus on the summer launches of the iPhone 5S and cheap iphone miss the side of the barn on the true strategy being put… Read More


Will 14nm Yield?

Will 14nm Yield?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-26-2013 at 9:00 pm

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the term “FinFET” at the 2013 SNUG (Synopsys User Group) Conference I could buy a dozen Venti Carmel Frappuccinos at Starbucks (my daughter’s favorite treat). In the keynote, Aart de Geus said FinFET 14 times and posed the question: Will FinFETs Yield at 14nm? So that was my mission, ask everybody… Read More


In compliance we trust, for integration we verify

In compliance we trust, for integration we verify
by Don Dingee on 03-26-2013 at 8:10 pm

So, you dropped that piece of complex IP you just licensed into an SoC design, and now it is time to fire up the simulator. How do you verify that it actually works in your design? If you didn’t get verification IP (VIP) with the functional IP, it might be a really long day.

Compliance checking something like a PCIe interface block is a … Read More


Moore Push Versus Market Pull

Moore Push Versus Market Pull
by Paul McLellan on 03-25-2013 at 5:55 pm

I was at SNUG earlier today at both Aart’s keynote that opened the conference and at his “meet the press” Q&A just before lunch. The keynote was entitled Bridges to the Gigascale Decade. And the presentation certainly contained lots of photos of bridges! Anyway, I’m going to focus on just one thing,… Read More


New ways for High Frequency Analysis of IC Layouts

New ways for High Frequency Analysis of IC Layouts
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-25-2013 at 5:30 pm

Amidst frequently changing requirements, time pressure and demand for high accuracy, it is imperative that EDA and design companies look at time consuming processes in the overall design flow and find alternatives without losing accuracy. High Frequency Analysis of IC designs is one such process which is traditionally based… Read More


Moore and Beyond: Global Semiconductor Primer

Moore and Beyond: Global Semiconductor Primer
by Daniel Nenni on 03-24-2013 at 8:10 pm

There are a couple of new analyst reports out that are interesting enough to blog about. I talk to the financial types on the phone every week or so explaining the semiconductor business and answering questions about the foundries and the top fabless companies. We don’t always agree on the outlook but there is always something to … Read More


Can Samsung Deliver As Promised?

Can Samsung Deliver As Promised?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-24-2013 at 8:01 pm

Samsung’s aggressive marketing is starting to hit the fabless semiconductor ecosystem so we had all better be prepared. Samsung’s 2012 marketing budget exceeded $400M which probably beats the marketing budget of the entire fabless ecosystem! The question is, will the fabless semiconductor industry be easily swayed by Samsung’s… Read More