Timing Closure Techniques for SOCs with Embedded FPGA Fabric

Timing Closure Techniques for SOCs with Embedded FPGA Fabric
by Tom Simon on 08-07-2018 at 12:00 pm

Once the benefits of using an embedded FPGA fabric are understood, the next question is about how timing closure is handled between the ASIC and the eFPGA blocks. First let’s look briefly at the advantages. By moving the eFPGA on to the SOC die, tons of I/O logic and the need for any package and board interconnect will vanish. Package… Read More


When Why and How Should You Use Embedded FPGA Technology

When Why and How Should You Use Embedded FPGA Technology
by Alok Sanghavi on 06-27-2018 at 7:00 am

If integrating an embedded FPGA (eFPGA) into your ASIC or SoC design strikes you as odd, it shouldn’t. ICs have been absorbing almost every component on a circuit board for decades, starting with transistors, resistors, and capacitors — then progressing to gates, ALUs, microprocessors, and memories. FPGAs are simply one more… Read More


The Best of IP at DAC 2018 Conference

The Best of IP at DAC 2018 Conference
by Eric Esteve on 06-15-2018 at 12:00 pm

Design IP is going well, with 12% YoY growth in 2017, even if the market is about $3.5B. But Design IP is serving a $400B semiconductor market. Can you imagine the future of the semi market if the chip makers couldn’t have access to Design IP? The same is true for EDA: it’s a niche market (CAE revenues was about $3B and IC Physical Design… Read More


Achronix Momentum Building with Revenue Growth, Product/Staff Expansion, New HQ

Achronix Momentum Building with Revenue Growth, Product/Staff Expansion, New HQ
by Camille Kokozaki on 04-27-2018 at 7:00 am

5G Wireless, Network Acceleration, Data centers, Machine Learning, Compression, Encryption fueling the Growth

Building on its increasing momentum, Achronix Semiconductor Corporation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, April 25, with the presence of Santa Clara’s Mayor Lisa Gillmor, customers, and partners, employees
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New Architectures for Automotive Intelligence

New Architectures for Automotive Intelligence
by Tom Simon on 03-14-2018 at 12:00 pm

My first car was a used 1971 Volvo 142 and probably did not contain more than a handful of transistors. I used to joke that it could easily survive the EMP from a nuclear explosion. Now, of course, cars contain dozens or more processors, DSP’s and other chips containing millions of transistors. It’s widely expected that the number … Read More


Processing Power Driving Practicality of Machine Learning

Processing Power Driving Practicality of Machine Learning
by Tom Simon on 03-02-2018 at 7:00 am

Despite their recent rise to prominence, the fundamentals of AI, specifically neural networks and deep learning, were established as far back as the late 50’s and early 60’s. The first neural network, the Perceptron, had a single layer and was good certain types of recognition. However, the Perceptron was unable to learn how to… Read More


Increased Processing Power Moves to Edge

Increased Processing Power Moves to Edge
by Tom Simon on 02-06-2018 at 12:00 pm

Recently there has been a lot of buzz about 5G networks. Aside from the talk about it possibly being nationalized, 5G will be a lot different than its predecessors. Rather than a single data link in a predetermined band, 5G will consist of a web of connections all working together to support existing types of data traffic and many new… Read More


Moving from FPGA’s to Embedded FPGA Fabric – How it’s Done

Moving from FPGA’s to Embedded FPGA Fabric – How it’s Done
by Tom Simon on 01-15-2018 at 12:00 pm

Buying IP is just a little bit more complicated than buying a pair of shoes. A lot of IP is configurable and requires attention to various design and configuration parameters. We live in an age where commercial soft IP is used pretty often in designs, so people have developed increasing comfort in the process that is required to achieve… Read More


The lofty rise of the lowly FPGA

The lofty rise of the lowly FPGA
by Tom Simon on 01-10-2018 at 7:00 am

FPGA programmable logic has served in many capacities since it was introduced back in the early 80’s. Recently, with designers looking for innovative ways to boost system performance, FPGA’s have moved front and center. This initiative has taken on new urgency with the slowing down of process node based performance gains. The… Read More


The perfect pairing of SOCs and embedded FPGA IP

The perfect pairing of SOCs and embedded FPGA IP
by Tom Simon on 10-30-2017 at 12:00 pm

In life, there are some things that just go together. Imagine the world without peanut butter and jelly, eggs and potatoes, telephones and voicemail, or the internet and search engines. In the world of computing there are many such examples – UARTS and FIFO’s, processor cores and GPU’s, etc. Another trait all these things have is… Read More