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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


Designing ARM Powered High Performance SoCs on 28nm and 20nm!

Designing ARM Powered High Performance SoCs on 28nm and 20nm!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-06-2012 at 9:17 am


Last week I had an interesting meeting with GLOBALFOUNDRIES executives Kevin Meyer and Mojy Chian. It certainly seems that GFI has turned a corner! I will be in Dresden next week for DATE 2012 and will also visit the GFI Fab there. 28nm and 20nm are on track so expect an aggressive implementation plan from GFI this year.… Read More


OpenAccess DB – Productivity and Beyond!

OpenAccess DB – Productivity and Beyond!
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-05-2012 at 10:00 pm

As I have been watching the developments in EDA and Semiconductor industry, it is apparent that we remain fragmented unless pushed to adopt a common standard mostly due to business reasons. Foundries are dictating on the rules to be followed by designs, thereby EDA tools incorporating them. Also, design companies needed to work… Read More