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TSMC 20nm Challenges!

TSMC 20nm Challenges!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-06-2012 at 7:00 pm

Now that the 28nm challenges are dead
It is time to look ahead
The tabloid pundits may not agree
But Moore’s law again you will see
The semiconductor ecosystem is humming
(2X gate density -20%+ performance-20%+ power savings)
The 20nm design starts are coming!

Okay, I’m really bad at poetry. Gambling however, I do pretty well. Las… Read More


Formal Verification, there’s an App for that

Formal Verification, there’s an App for that
by Paul McLellan on 05-06-2012 at 6:00 pm

The success of Apple’s AppStore has made people aware that software doesn’t have to be delivered in a big monolithic lump. Indeed, going back a bit earlier, Apple’s iTunes store made people aware that you didn’t have to buy a whole album if you only wanted a track or two.

EDA applications in today’s… Read More


Where to eat lunch or get a beer at DAC

Where to eat lunch or get a beer at DAC
by Paul McLellan on 05-04-2012 at 11:17 pm

You are going to DAC. And you don’t want to eat a Moscone Center rubber chicken Caesar salad for lunch. But you lack local knowledge. So here are some places within a 10 minute walk. These are just places I like. Nobody is paying me to recommend them.

Places to eat
The food court in the San Francisco Center on Market Street between… Read More


GlobalFoundries 2012 Update!

GlobalFoundries 2012 Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-04-2012 at 8:55 pm

What’s new with Glofo? Quite a bit actually. It was interesting to see a Made in America: Global Companies Expand in U.S. Towns segment on semiconductors! Give it a look, I enjoyed it. It’s an election year, jobs are key to any election, so it did not surprise me to see President Obama making the rounds:… Read More


It is free after you pay for it and there is a one-time annual fee: The Case for FD-SOI

It is free after you pay for it and there is a one-time annual fee: The Case for FD-SOI
by Camille Kokozaki on 05-04-2012 at 7:09 am

In one of Portlandia’s TV program sketches, there is a funny interchange between a carrier salesperson and Fred Armisen (of SNL fame) who was trying to buy a phone. One chuckle line was a statement by the seller that the phone was free after paying for it and that there was a one-time annual fee. With this anecdote as a mental backdrop,… Read More


28nm Layout Needs Signoff Quality at Design Time

28nm Layout Needs Signoff Quality at Design Time
by Pawan Fangaria on 05-03-2012 at 8:30 pm

We are all aware that at 28nm and below several types of complex layout effects manifest themselves into the design and pose a herculean task, with several re-spins to correct them at pre-tapeout. It’s apparent that the layout needs to be correct by construction at the very beginning during the design stage.

Having worked at CadenceRead More


The Biggest EDA Company You’ve Never Heard Of

The Biggest EDA Company You’ve Never Heard Of
by Paul McLellan on 05-02-2012 at 8:30 pm

There’s this EDA company. They have over 100 tapeouts. They have a $28M in funding. They have 250 people. And you’ve never heard of them. Or at least I hadn’t.

They are ICScape. They started in 2005 with an investment from Acorn Campus Ventures and delivered their first product, ClockExplorer, in 2007 and their… Read More


Use a SpyGlass to Look for Faults

Use a SpyGlass to Look for Faults
by Paul McLellan on 05-02-2012 at 5:24 pm

There is a famous quote (probably attributed to Mark Twain who gets them all by default) “When looking for faults use a mirror not a spyglass.” Of course if you have RTL of your IP or your design then using a SpyGlass is clearly the better way to go. But it is getting even better since there is a new enhanced release, SpyGlass… Read More


Smart mobile SoCs: NVIDIA

Smart mobile SoCs: NVIDIA
by Don Dingee on 05-02-2012 at 4:16 pm

When the name synonymous with personal computer graphics decided to turn their engineering talent toward the mobile business, heads turned. NVIDIA has rather quickly gained a foothold in tablets by squeezing four high performance processing cores, twelve graphics cores, and more onto a Tegra 3.… Read More