SILVACO 051525 Webinar 800x100 v2

EDS Fair: Dateline Yohohama

EDS Fair: Dateline Yohohama
by Paul McLellan on 11-20-2012 at 12:22 pm

Electronic Design and Solutions Fair (EDSF) was held in Yokohama Japan from Wednesday to Friday last week. It was held at the Pacifico Hotel, somewhere I have stayed several times, not far from the Yokohama branch of Hard Rock Cafe and, what used to be at least, the biggest ferris-wheel in the world.

Atrenta was one of the many companies… Read More


How much SRAM proportion could be integrated in SoC at 20 nm and below?

How much SRAM proportion could be integrated in SoC at 20 nm and below?
by Eric Esteve on 11-20-2012 at 4:45 am

Once upon a time, ASIC designers were integrating memories in their design (using a memory compiler being part of the design tools provided by the ASIC vendor), then they had to make the memory observable, controllable… and start developing the test program for the function, not a very enthusiastic task (“AAAA” and “5555” and other… Read More


Andy Bryant Will Now Lead Intel Into The Foundry Era

Andy Bryant Will Now Lead Intel Into The Foundry Era
by Ed McKernan on 11-19-2012 at 12:30 pm

The announcement that Paul Otellini will step down in May 2013 is extraordinary in the history of the way Intel makes CEO transitions. They are thoughtful, deliberate and years in the making, unlike today’s announcement. Twenty years ago Otellini and Andy Bryant were in the top echelon of Andy Grove’s executive team and … Read More


Is The Fabless Semiconductor Ecosystem at Risk?

Is The Fabless Semiconductor Ecosystem at Risk?
by Daniel Nenni on 11-18-2012 at 6:00 pm

Ever since the failed Intel PR stunt where Mark Bohr suggested that the fabless semiconductor ecosystem was collapsing I have been researching and writing about it. The results will be a book co-authored by Paul McLellan. You may have noticed the “Brief History of” blogs on SemiWiki which basically outline the book. If not, start… Read More


Here to make my stand, with a chipset in my hand

Here to make my stand, with a chipset in my hand
by Don Dingee on 11-16-2012 at 6:13 pm

Yesterday, I clicked “like” on a LinkedIn post with the title “TI Cuts 1,700 Jobs”. Today, I read the analysis and pulled out Social Distortion’s “Still Alive” for inspiration. I’ve been through this more than once. For them it’s not like-worthy, and I feel their sting.

The part of the post I liked was the comment: “This is good for … Read More


Mentor and NXP Demonstrate that IJTAG Can Reduce Test Setup Time for Complex SoCs

Mentor and NXP Demonstrate that IJTAG Can Reduce Test Setup Time for Complex SoCs
by glforte on 11-15-2012 at 8:10 pm

The creation of test patterns for mixed signal IP has been, to a large extent, a manual effort. To improve the process used to test, access, and control embedded IP, a new IEEE P1687 standard is being defined by a broad coalition of IP vendors, IP users, major ATE companies, and all three major EDA vendors. This new standard, also called… Read More


What I Learned About FPGA-based Prototyping

What I Learned About FPGA-based Prototyping
by Daniel Payne on 11-15-2012 at 8:10 pm

Today I attended an Aldec webinar about ASIC and SoC prototyping using the new HES-7 Board. This prototyping board is based on the latest Virtex-7 FPGA chips from Xilinx.

You can view the recorded webinar here, which takes about 30 minutes (should be available in a few days). I first blogged about the HES-7 two months ago, ASIC PrototypingRead More


Test and Diagnosis at ISTFA

Test and Diagnosis at ISTFA
by Beth Martin on 11-15-2012 at 7:10 pm

Finding and debugging failures on integrated circuits has become increasingly difficult. Two sessions at ISTFA (International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis) on Thursday address the current best practices and research directions of diagnosis.

The first was a tutorial this morning by Mentor Graphics luminary… Read More


Semiconductor market negative in 2012

Semiconductor market negative in 2012
by Bill Jewell on 11-15-2012 at 12:30 am

September WSTS data shows the 3Q 2012 semiconductor market increased 1.8% from 2Q 2012. The year 2012 semiconductor market will certainly show a decline. 4Q 2012 would need to grow 11% to result in positive growth for 2012. The outlook for key semiconductor companies points to a 4Q 2012 roughly flat with 3Q 2012. The table below showsRead More


Creating Plug-and-Play IP Networks in Large SoCs with IEEE P1687 (IJTAG)

Creating Plug-and-Play IP Networks in Large SoCs with IEEE P1687 (IJTAG)
by glforte on 11-14-2012 at 2:15 pm

Until now, the integration and testing of IP blocks used in large SOCs has been a manual, time consuming design effort. A new standard called IEEE P1687 (or “IJTAG”) for IP plug-and-play integration is emerging to simplify these tasks. EDA tools are also emerging to support the new standard. Last week mentor announcedTessent IJTAG,… Read More