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Chip in the Clouds – "Gathering"

Chip in the Clouds – "Gathering"
by Kalar Rajendiran on 04-13-2012 at 1:29 pm


Cloud computing is the talk of the tech world nowadays. I even hear commentaries about how entrepreneurs are turned down by venture capitalists for not including a cloud component into their business plan no matter what the core business may be. The commentary goes “It’s cloudy without any clouds.” Add some clouds to your strategy… Read More


I Love DAC

I Love DAC
by Paul McLellan on 04-13-2012 at 1:16 pm

For the fourth year Atrenta, Cadence and Springsoft are jointly sponsoring the “I LOVE DAC” campaign. In case you have been hibernating all winter, DAC is June 3-7th in San Francisco at the Moscone Center.

There are two parts to “I LOVE DAC”. First, if you register by May 15th (and they haven’t all… Read More


EDPS: 3D ICs, part II

EDPS: 3D ICs, part II
by Paul McLellan on 04-12-2012 at 10:00 pm

Part I is here.

In the panel session at EDPS on 3D IC a number of major issues got highlighted (highlit?).

The first is the problem of known-good-die (KDG) which is what killed off the promising multi-chip-module approach, perhaps the earliest type of interposer. The KDG problem is that with a single die in a package it doesn’t… Read More


Doing what others don’t do

Doing what others don’t do
by Paul McLellan on 04-12-2012 at 2:56 pm

Wally Rhines’ keynote at U2U, the Mentor users’ group meeting, was about Mentor’s strategy of focusing on what other people don’t do. This is partially a defensive approach, since Mentor has never had the financial firepower to have the luxury of focusing all their development on sustaining their products and then make … Read More


Cadence support for the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) 3.0 controller and PHY IP solution + PCIe Controller IP opening the door for NVM Express support

Cadence support for the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) 3.0 controller and PHY IP solution + PCIe Controller IP opening the door for NVM Express support
by Eric Esteve on 04-11-2012 at 10:19 am

The press release about ONFI 3.0 support was launched by Cadence at the beginning of this year. It was a good illustration of Denali, then Cadence, long term commitment to Nand Flash Controller IP support. The ONFI 3 specification simplifies the design of high-performance computing platforms, such as solid state drives and enterprise… Read More


Analog Automation – Needs Design Perspective

Analog Automation – Needs Design Perspective
by Pawan Fangaria on 04-11-2012 at 7:00 am

Recently I was researching the keynote speeches of isQED (International Society for Quality Electronic Design) Symposium 2012 and saw the very first, great presentation, “Taming the Challenges in Advanced Node Design” by Tom Beckley, Sr. VP at Cadence. I know Tom very well as I have worked with him and I admire his knowledge, authority… Read More


EDPS: 3D ICs, part I

EDPS: 3D ICs, part I
by Paul McLellan on 04-10-2012 at 10:00 pm

The second day (more like a half-day) of EDPS was devoted to 3D ICs. There was a lot of information, too much to summarize in a few hundred words. The keynote was by Riko Radojcic of Qualcomm, who has been a sort of one-man-band attempting to drive the EDA and manufacturing industries towards 3D. Of course it helps if you don’t … Read More


The best graphics chip is the one seen the most

The best graphics chip is the one seen the most
by Don Dingee on 04-10-2012 at 2:48 pm

If I say “graphics chip”, most techies will say NVIDIA or AMD. But in the new post-PC world , neither of these players holds the key to the future. One that does is a little company making 43 cents on every latest version iPad and iPhone. Another is designing their own approach. Should you care what graphics is in your phone?Read More


MEMS and IC Co-design

MEMS and IC Co-design
by Daniel Payne on 04-10-2012 at 11:37 am

This morning I attended a webinar about MEMS and IC co-design from a company called SoftMEMS along with Tanner EDA. I learned that you can co-design MEMS and IC either in a bottom-up or top-down methodology, and that this particular flow has import/export options to fit in with your mechanical simulation tools (Ansys, Comsol, Open… Read More


Oasys Gets Funding from Intel and Xilinx

Oasys Gets Funding from Intel and Xilinx
by Paul McLellan on 04-10-2012 at 8:00 am

Oasys announced that it closed its series B funding round with investments from Intel Capital and Xilinx. The fact that any EDA company has closed a funding round is newsworthy these days; companies running out of cash and closing the doors seems to be a more common story.

Oasys has been relatively quiet, which some people have taken… Read More