The Common Platform Technology Forum last week was not well attended, less than half than the GlobalFoundries Conference. It was deja vu of previous CP forums but there were a couple of surprises to go with the disappointment. The lunch line was long, but fortunately I was escorted to the press lunch featuring VIP’s from Samsung,… Read More
iPDK is the way to go for AMS designs
I just read the press release from TowerJazz and Tanner EDA about how an AMS designer can use schematic symbols and layout generators in Tanner EDA tools for the TowerJazz 0.18um node. This is made possible because of the growing iPDK (Interoperable Process Design Kits) movement.
In the old days each foundry would have to staff up… Read More
SemiWiki Top Influencers get Android Tablets!
The most impressive devices at CES this year by far were the Android tablets, I absolutely want one. It will not replace my laptop but my laptop will no longer leave the house (my laptop AC adapter weighs more than a tablet!) My iPod will be for walks and the gym, I won’t buy another digital camera, and no e-reader for me.
SemiWiki is a cloud… Read More
Aart de Geus ( Synopsys ) for Governor!
Seriously, I would vote for Aart, he would make a great California Governor. You will probably not meet a more fiscally responsible CEO. Synopsys is one of the best run companies in Silicon Valley and was recently rated in the top 25 on social media site glassdoor.com. Aart ( SNPS ) has a 92% approval rate, Wally ( MENT ) 80%, Lip-Bu ( … Read More
Getting to the 32nm/28nm Common Platform node with Mentor IC Tools
Last week I talked with two experts at Mentor about the challenges of getting IC designs into the 32nm/28nm node on the Common Platform (IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung). Global Foundries issued a press release talking about how the four major EDA companies have worked together to qualify EDA tools for this node.
Sudhakar Jilla,… Read More
EDA Mergers and Acquisition
I met Ian Getreu in Oregon at a monthly EDA networking luncheon several years ago and have kept in touch with him. Ian co-founded Analogy which was later acquired by Avant! (now Synopsys). One thing that Ian noticed over the years was that smaller EDA companies were constantly getting acquired by the bigger and publicly traded EDA… Read More
3D ICs, the state of the union
I attended the 3D architectures for semiconductor integration and packaging conference just before Christmas. I learned a lot and have put together an overview of what is going on in 3D ICs. This is not intended for experts (and if I’ve made egregious errors then please correct them in the forum) but more for people who are … Read More
Atrenta to Participate in SemiWiki.com Cloud Based Social Media Platform
Atrenta Inc., the leading provider of Early Design Closure® solutions to radically improve design efficiency throughout the IC design flow, announced today that it will participate in a worldwide social media platform aimed at facilitating mass communication for electronic design professionals through Web 2.0 technologies.… Read More
CES GlobalFoundries Party ( pics )
Unlike the last CES, this year I saw compelling technology, technology that will definitely drive the semiconductor industry and make the analyst fortunetellers look bad yet again. Anyone who thinks semiconductor growth next year will be in single digits is absolutely wrong, TSMC will grow even more, 20%+. First and foremost… Read More
EDA360 in PC Today
At the EDAC CEO panel, Daniel pointed out that he used EDA360 as a good introduction to non-specialists (e.g. financial sector). I just discovered today that the cover article of PC Today is by John Bruggeman (well, Cadence) about EDA360. Having some idea of just how difficult it is to get that sort of specialist article into a general… Read More
Build a 100% Python-based Design environment for Large SoC Designs