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Arteris evangelization High Speed Interfaces!

Arteris evangelization High Speed Interfaces!
by Eric Esteve on 04-15-2012 at 4:36 am

Kurt Shuler from Arteris has written a short but useful blog about the various high speed interface protocols currently used in the wireless handset (and smartphone) IP ecosystem. Arteris is well known for their flagship product, the Network-on-Chip (NoC), and the Mobile Application Processor market segment represent the … Read More


Handsets, what’s up?

Handsets, what’s up?
by Paul McLellan on 04-13-2012 at 3:02 pm

So who’s in and who’s out these days in handsets?

It looks as if Samsung has finally achieved a long-held goal to be the largest handset vendor, taking over from Nokia which has been the market leader for 14 years since 1998 when it passed Motorola. Nokia hasn’t reported yet but they cut their forecast. Samsung … Read More


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