Design Test and Regression Management of SoCs

Design Test and Regression Management of SoCs
by Daniel Payne on 06-28-2013 at 2:26 pm

Eric Peersfounded Missing Link tools in 2008 and his company was acquiredby Methodics in 2012, so I met with him at DAC to understand how their EDA tools for Design, Test and Regression Management are used in an SoC design.


Eric Peers, MethodicsRead More


DAC by the Numbers

DAC by the Numbers
by Paul McLellan on 06-20-2013 at 12:03 pm

The attendance numbers for DAC are out. Unless you have been living under a stone you know that DAC was in Austin Texas a couple of weeks ago. Attendance was:

  • full conference passes: 1589
  • exhibits-only passes: 2364
  • booth staff: 1998

The registration is slightly lower than last year when DAC was in San Francisco (as it will be again … Read More


AMS IC Simulation Update from Synopsys at DAC

AMS IC Simulation Update from Synopsys at DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-10-2013 at 6:19 pm

Last year at DAC we didn’t really know the circuit simulation roadmap for Synopsys because of all the EDA company acquisitions, however this year it’s clear to me that:

  • HSPICE continues on, although it’s a lower performance circuit simulator than FineSim
  • FineSim from Magma is well-loved, and faster than HSPICE
Read More

Cooley’s Cheesy Must See List for DAC is Out

Cooley’s Cheesy Must See List for DAC is Out
by Paul McLellan on 05-31-2013 at 6:23 pm

One of the other increasingly successful channels (besides Semiwiki of course) for EDA, IP and semiconductor companies to reach potential customers is John Cooley’s DeepChip. Every year he puts a lot of effort into trying to find out who is exhibiting what at DAC and which stuff seems like it is new and maybe important, and… Read More


Barbecue at DAC

Barbecue at DAC
by Paul McLellan on 05-28-2013 at 1:55 pm

I already wrote about Franklin Barbecue, by some rankings the best in the whole country. If you want to go there you must be there early. They start serving at 11am and run out of food around 1pm. Closed on Monday.

But there are other barbecue and similar places near the convention center. Since I’m not an Austin native (we’ll… Read More


Heart of Technology Heads to DAC in Austin

Heart of Technology Heads to DAC in Austin
by Randy Smith on 05-25-2013 at 2:45 pm

With the support of the Heart of Technology, one of the big events this year at DAC will be the Kickin’ It Up in Austin celebration on June 3, at the amazing, world famous Austin City Limits Live! The event starts at 8:00 PM, runs until 1:00 AM and features three bands – 9-time Grammy winner Asleep at the Wheel; Vista Roads, an industry… Read More


IC Place and Route Perspective from Users at DAC

IC Place and Route Perspective from Users at DAC
by Daniel Payne on 05-22-2013 at 11:44 am

One of the most useful ways to learn about an EDA tool is to talk with other users that have experience with that tool. IC Place and Route tools are complex and yet necessary to implement every SoC designed today, so at DAC in just two weeks you have a chance to hear first-hand from several P&R tool users. To get a better idea about these… Read More


Places Around the Austin Convention Center

Places Around the Austin Convention Center
by Paul McLellan on 05-09-2013 at 8:05 pm

Jerry Philippe used to work for me at Compass and then very briefly we worked together at VaST. Today he works for Calypto in Austin. And it is the Austin part that is important because Jerry knows where the places are in any city to get good food and drink but Austin is his home.

Austin has an extraordinary number of restaurants and bars.… Read More


Bangers: the Best Beer Bar in Austin; Live Oak Brewing, the Best Beer in Austin

Bangers: the Best Beer Bar in Austin; Live Oak Brewing, the Best Beer in Austin
by Paul McLellan on 05-07-2013 at 8:10 pm

OK, enough with all this semiconductor geeky stuff. The important thing about DAC is…where to go to eat to avoid standard issue convention center chicken Caesar salad.

And a 7 minute walk from the convention center is Bangers Sausage House and Beer Gardenwhere you can have the $8 “executive” lunch consisting… Read More


Training Day at DAC

Training Day at DAC
by Paul McLellan on 05-07-2013 at 12:15 pm

This year for the first time the Thursday of DAC is tranining day. So that would be June 6th in Austin, of course. There are four tracks of training focused on SystemC, ARM Cortex and two on SystemVerilog, all areas of increasing use in SoC design, especially in mobile.

Each track of training is divided into two parts, one held from 9am… Read More