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Common Platform Technology Forum: Peering into the Future

Common Platform Technology Forum: Peering into the Future
by Paul McLellan on 03-10-2012 at 9:00 am

Next Wednesday is the Common Platform Technology Forum. “Common Platform” is a name that only a committee could have come up with, giving no clue as to what it actually is. As you probably know, there are various process clubs sharing the costs of technology development (TD) and one of them consists of IBM, Samsung and… Read More


Elpida and Japan Inc

Elpida and Japan Inc
by Paul McLellan on 03-09-2012 at 2:17 pm

Last week, the Japanese memory company Elpida filed for bankruptcy. There is worldwide overcapacity in DRAM and somebody had to go. Its strength and the weakness was that it was much more outward facing than most of the Japanese semiconductor and electronic industry. So it had to compete globally and wasn’t up to the task.… Read More


Apple’s New iPAD and the End of PC Benchmarks

Apple’s New iPAD and the End of PC Benchmarks
by Ed McKernan on 03-09-2012 at 10:19 am

With the introduction of the “New iPAD”, we now have the 2012 benchmark for the tablet market, including the offerings that will come from Amazon later in the year. As has been noted earlier, with each new mobile product iteration Apple unmoors itself from the PC foundations of Microsoft, Intel and even nVidia and AMD. At the unveiling… Read More


Formale Verifikation in München

Formale Verifikation in München
by Paul McLellan on 03-08-2012 at 9:00 am

With DATE next week in Dresden, all eyes turn to Germany. Not to be left out, Jasper has a seminar on formal verification coming up on March 19th in the Kempinski Hotel at Munich airport. Unlike most “airport” hotels the Kempinski is indeed right in the heart of the airport. And for those of us who like a good German beer,… Read More


TSMC absolutely did NOT halt 28nm production!

TSMC absolutely did NOT halt 28nm production!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-07-2012 at 6:18 pm

Once again industry professionals get duped! Tabloid journalism runs amok inside the semiconductor ecosystem! As if our industry does not face enough challenges, why are we wasting time on drivel like this? This is a TSMC 28nm wafer by the way and thousands of them are being shipped around the world, believe it.
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CDNLive: two days of all things Cadence

CDNLive: two days of all things Cadence
by Paul McLellan on 03-07-2012 at 4:17 pm

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, March 13-14th, is CDNLive in Silicon Valley at the DoubleTree Hotel (which I see we are now meant to call DoubleTree by Hilton, although I still have to think twice not to call it the Red Lion, the group whose CFO at one point was Ray Bingham who was CFO and then CEO of Cadence. Trivia fact for the day).

CDNlive… Read More


Kathryn Kranen Interview in San Jose Mercury News

Kathryn Kranen Interview in San Jose Mercury News
by Paul McLellan on 03-07-2012 at 1:22 pm

There is an interview in the San Jose Mercury News with Kathryn Kranen, Jasper’s CEO. Of course the Mercury is a general newspaper and can’t expect most of its readership to have a clue what EDA is, never mind formal verification. It’s a similar problem to the one we all have when we try and explain to our families… Read More


Clock Domain Crossing (CDC): Survey Says

Clock Domain Crossing (CDC): Survey Says
by Paul McLellan on 03-06-2012 at 11:30 pm

I had no idea that there was a clock domain crossing (CDC) linkedIn group but indeed there is. Richard Brabant has set up a survey to see which tools people are using.


The graph is somewhat confusing since, for example, Cadence Conformal is currently at zero but has a significant looking bar. But far and away the market leader (in this… Read More


IC Custom IP Blocks – EM and IR Drop Effects

IC Custom IP Blocks – EM and IR Drop Effects
by Daniel Payne on 03-06-2012 at 5:33 pm

Designing custom IP blocks is a challenge at the transistor-level and I wanted to learn what the recommended methodology and EDA tool flow was at Synopsys. They have a webinar that you can register for and it takes 30 minutes to learn what they have to say, or you can read a White Paper. If you cannot spare that much time, then my summary… Read More


Test Synopsys offensive in VIP and try the quiz

Test Synopsys offensive in VIP and try the quiz
by Eric Esteve on 03-06-2012 at 11:33 am

I have recently blogged about Synopsys offensive in the Verification IP market. Did Synopsys again launched a new product, or announced a new acquisition? This would be a serious topic to blog, but today’s blog is closer to gaming than market analysis. Sometimes it’s good to have fun, even if the topic is serious! In fact, Synopsys… Read More