Cliff Hou’s DAC Keynote

Cliff Hou’s DAC Keynote
by Paul McLellan on 06-23-2014 at 10:21 am

Cliff Hou had two major appearances at DAC this year. He gave the opening day keynote…and he wrote the forward to Dan and my bookFabless: the Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry which about 1500 lucky people got a copy of courtesy of several companies, most notably eSilicon who sponsored the Tuesday evening post-conference… Read More


Workshop: Embedded Applications and Kernels

Workshop: Embedded Applications and Kernels
by Daniel Payne on 06-19-2014 at 6:13 pm

Design Automation Conference Workshop on Suite of Embedded Applications and Kernels

In June, the first Suite of Embedded Applications and Kernels, or SEAK, workshop at the 2014 Design Automation Conference in San Francisco introduced a new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program in the area of embedded system benchmarking… Read More


Hogan’s Internet of Things Panel

Hogan’s Internet of Things Panel
by Paul McLellan on 06-06-2014 at 10:50 am

Jim Hogan organized a panel on the Internet of Things (IoT) on Wednesday afternoon. The panellists were Randy Smith of Sonics, Bernard Murphy of Atrenta, Gary Smith (himself) and Frank Shirrmeister of Cadence.

Gary reckons that IoT is a Wall Street buzzword being used to get stock prices up. If you go to a series of presentations … Read More


The Best and Worst of #51DAC!

The Best and Worst of #51DAC!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-05-2014 at 4:00 pm

When people ask which DAC is the most memorable I used to say my first because I was a new college grad and it really was exciting. The next DAC was memorable since it was in Las Vegas and my beautiful wife joined me. This year was DAC number 30 for me and of course it will be the most memorable since I signed hundreds of copies of “Fabless: Read More


SystemC: User Group update from DAC

SystemC: User Group update from DAC
by John Swan on 06-05-2014 at 12:00 pm

I always enjoy attending the SystemC User group to see what is being done by users of SystemC. This time was no exception. Not only is it FREE, but the professional networking around the meeting, presentations, and break times are terrific.

There were 5 paper presentations at the North American SystemC User Group (NASCUG) on Monday,… Read More


Impressions of #51DAC

Impressions of #51DAC
by Paul McLellan on 06-05-2014 at 9:56 am

So what was the overall theme of DAC this year? Usually there seems to be some trend that is hot. A few years ago it was power, then more recently all the stuff associated with 20nm and 16nm such as FinFETs and double patterning. Those things are still around, of course, and there are new generations of tools.

One theme is that more design… Read More


Advice for Out-of-towners

Advice for Out-of-towners
by Paul McLellan on 06-02-2014 at 3:29 am

You are visiting San Francisco and you have dutifully read your guide book. Let me give you some contrarian advice.

See the Golden Gate Bridge. The best way is not to drive there or get a taxi, but to rent a bicycle (lots of places on that side of the city, try Googling “blazing saddles”) and cycle across the bridge. You can then go down … Read More


Fabless Book Giveaway at #51DAC Reception!

Fabless Book Giveaway at #51DAC Reception!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-01-2014 at 5:30 am

eSilicon will be providing books for the first 300 people to attend the Tuesday night networking reception sponsored by SemiWiki. To avoid confusion they will be giving out BOOK COUPONS when you arrive to be redeemed when the event starts so grab a coupon, enjoy the food and drinks! I can assure you this will be the ultimate networking… Read More


Don’t Eat Rubber Chicken in the Best Food City in the World

Don’t Eat Rubber Chicken in the Best Food City in the World
by Paul McLellan on 05-31-2014 at 8:55 am

You are going to DAC next week. And you don’t want to eat a Moscone Center rubber chicken Caesar salad for lunch. But you lack local knowledge. So here are some places within a 10 minute walk (these are just places I like. Nobody is paying me to recommend them).

The food court in the San Francisco Center on Market Street between … Read More


DAC is Next Week!

DAC is Next Week!
by Paul McLellan on 05-31-2014 at 3:03 am

DAC starts on Sunday. If you are in San Francisco on Sunday then the first event is the normal welcome reception. This is the ultimate networking event in EDA. It is in the Intercontinental Hotel about a block from the convention center and runs from 5.30 to 7pm. This is preceded by Gary Smith’s traditional kickoff from 5pm to… Read More