Like Guiness dark beer, competition is good for you! I mean good for end user, as it pushes DSP IP supplier to provide ever better solution. I am not talking about me-to type of competition, like that we have seen in the past with IBM trying to displace TI at Nokia, by offering a LEAD (DSP IP core from TI used in every NOKIA wireless phone… Read More



How Can You Work Better with Your Foundry?
The fabless revolution in the digital semiconductor industry is no more, with just a few integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) remaining on the playing field, it is now the normal way to do business. However, the learning curve for each new process node continues as it always has, with a host of new technical challenges for the … Read More
Is debugging a task, or a continuous process?
Early in my so-called EE career, I sat in a workshop led by the director of quality for the Ford truck plant in Louisville, KY, where “Quality is Job #1.” At that time, they were gaining experience in electronic control modules (ECMs) for fuel efficiency and emissions control. Who better to transfer the secrets of Crosby and Deming… Read More
Modeling TSV, IBIS-AMI and SERDES with HSPICE
The HSPICE circuit simulator has been around for decades and is widely used by IC designers worldwide, so I watched the HSPICE SIG by video today and summarize what happened. Engineers from Micron, Altera and AMD presented on how they are using HSPICE to model TSVs, IBiS-AMI models and SERDES, respectively.… Read More
Innovative or Die, NoC IP Market is Cruel…
I have blogged in 2011 about the Arteris-Sonics case, initiated by Sonics, claiming that Arteris NoC IP product was infringing Sonics patent. In this article, we have seen that the architecture of Sonics interconnects IP product was not only older but also different from Arteris’ NoC architecture: the products launched initially… Read More
Intel’s x86 – Foundry Breakup Comes into View
The announcement by Intel during their January earnings call that they were going to hike Capex in 2013 over 2012 left many folks scrambling as to the reasons and the what-the hecks? Here was a company that was exiting 2012 with 50% utilization of their advanced 22nm process and yet signaling more building was to come. Furthermore,… Read More
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future
The above quote is attributed to both physicist Niels Bohr and baseball’s Yogi Berra. The statement certainly applies to predicting the semiconductor market. Semiconductors operate on physical principles. However the market for semiconductors is affected by numerous factors. The outcome of a baseball game can be determined… Read More
Cadence ♥ ClioSoft!
Taking a look at the coveted presentation slots at the CDNLive Conference next month you will see a presentation on Data Management for Mixed-Signal Designs by one of my favorite EDA companies, ClioSoft. Great software, great support, great people, and with customers that are willing to talk publicly about their tools and technology.… Read More
SPICE Circuit Simulation at STMicroelectronics
At the 2010 DACI moderated a panel session on SPICE and Fast SPICE circuit simulation, and one of the panelists was PierLuigi Dagliofrom STMicroelectronics. To get an update on SPICE circuit simulation at ST I read a PDF document at Mentor titled: Improving the Quality of SPICE Simulation Results with Eldo Premier at ST.
ST does … Read More
TSMC ♥ Cadence
In a shocking move TSMC now favors Cadence over Synopsys! Okay, not so shocking, especially after the Synopsys acquisitions of Magma, Ciranova, SpringSoft, and the resulting product consolidations. Not shocking to me at all since my day job is Strategic Foundry Relationships for emerging EDA, IP, and fabless companies.
Rick… Read More
Flynn Was Right: How a 2003 Warning Foretold Today’s Architectural Pivot