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Taiwan Trip Report: Semiconductors, EDA, and the ASIC Business!

Taiwan Trip Report: Semiconductors, EDA, and the ASIC Business!
by Daniel Nenni on 12-04-2011 at 7:00 pm

Just returning from my monthly trip to Taiwan and I find myself energized! Semiconductors, EDA, and the ASIC business have never been more exciting! The travel itself is not so exciting but since I make frequent trips the airline and hotel treat me like a king. And let me tell you, it is good to be a king!

Speaking of royalty, I saw Dr. Read More


Interoperability Forum

Interoperability Forum
by Paul McLellan on 12-03-2011 at 3:19 pm


Earlier this week I went to the Synopsys Interoperability Forum. The big news of the day turned out to be Synopsys wanting to be more than interoperable with Magma, but that only got announced after we’d all gone away.

Philippe Margashack of ST opened, reviewing his slides from a presentation at the same forum from 10 years … Read More


Microsoft’s New Tablet Strategy: Here, There and Everywhere

Microsoft’s New Tablet Strategy: Here, There and Everywhere
by Ed McKernan on 12-03-2011 at 10:33 am

As mentioned in a previous post, Microsoft has started to come clean on its software strategy as it relates to Windows 8 for PCs and Tablets. The strategy has been changing quite rapidly since their first admission in September. Essentially the Windows 8 O/S will be forked based on whether the mobile device is operating on an x86 or… Read More


IP-SoC 2011: prepare the future, what’s coming next after IP based design?

IP-SoC 2011: prepare the future, what’s coming next after IP based design?
by Eric Esteve on 12-03-2011 at 2:58 am

IP-SoC 2011is the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary for the first Conference completely dedicated to IP. IP market is a small world, as EDA a small market if you look at the generated revenue… but both are essential building blocks for the semiconductor industry. It was not clear back in 1995 that IP will become essential: at that time,… Read More


It’s not just handsets

It’s not just handsets
by Paul McLellan on 11-30-2011 at 7:58 pm

I usually write about the handset business (terminals in wireless-speak) because it is a consumer business and drives, directly and indirectly, a large part of the semiconductor business. But there is another part to the business, base-stations.

The largest supplier of wireless networking equipment is Ericsson. Ericsson … Read More


Synopsys acquires Magma

Synopsys acquires Magma
by Paul McLellan on 11-30-2011 at 4:41 pm

So Synopsys announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Magma. There will be a regulatory delay etc before it finally closes.

So why did they do it? Despite Magma being thought of as a place and route company, they have two other product that are perhaps more significant for Synopsys: FineSim and Tekton.

FineSim, Magma’s… Read More


100 USB 3.0 IP Design-In…Is PLDA rocketing SuperSpeed USB technology?

100 USB 3.0 IP Design-In…Is PLDA rocketing SuperSpeed USB technology?
by Eric Esteve on 11-29-2011 at 10:19 am

Did we (the analyst) completely underestimate SuperSpeed USB take-off, or is the company tweaking the meaning of “USB 3.0 IP Design-In”? This PRfrom PLDA could be understood as a claiming from the IP vendor that they have achieved the 100[SUP]th[/SUP] design win for their USB 3.0 IP… Let’s try to understand how PLDA can make more… Read More


Blitz, blazing fast layout

Blitz, blazing fast layout
by Paul McLellan on 11-29-2011 at 8:00 am

One of the challenges with today’s SoCs is that chip-finishing, putting the final touches to the SoC working at the chip level, stresses layout editors to the limit. Either they run out of capacity to load the entire chip, or they can handle the entire chip but everything is like wading through molasses, it takes an awfully … Read More


Will Amazon’s Kindle Fire Force x86 Processors To Revisit the 1980s?

Will Amazon’s Kindle Fire Force x86 Processors To Revisit the 1980s?
by Ed McKernan on 11-29-2011 at 12:07 am

What if Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, priced at $199 and using a sub $10 TI processor, has effectively started the ball rolling towards forcing Intel and AMD to building a Very Low Cost (perhaps even <$10) x86 mobile processor? A recent article entitled “Amazon’s Risky Strategy” explores the ramifications of Amazon selling Kindle… Read More


A Review of an Analog Layout Tool called HiPer DevGen

A Review of an Analog Layout Tool called HiPer DevGen
by Daniel Payne on 11-28-2011 at 1:11 pm

My last IC design at Intel was a Graphics Chip and I developed a layout generator for Programmable Logic Arrays (PLA) that automated the task, so I’ve always been interested in how to make IC layout more push-button and less polygon pushing. Today I watched a video about HiPer DevGen from Tanner EDA and wanted to share what I … Read More