TSMC EDA 2.0 With Machine Learning: Are We There Yet ?

TSMC EDA 2.0 With Machine Learning: Are We There Yet ?
by Alex Tan on 11-06-2017 at 7:00 am

Recently we have been swamped by news of Artificial Intelligence applications in hardware and software by the increased adoption of Machine Learning (ML) and the shift of electronic industry towards IoT and automobiles. While plenty of discussions have covered the progress of embedded intelligence in product roll-outs, anRead More


The Interface IP Market has Grown to $530 Million!

The Interface IP Market has Grown to $530 Million!
by Eric Esteve on 10-22-2017 at 7:00 am

According with IPnest, the Interface IP market, including USB, PCI Express, (LP)DDRn, HDMI, MIPI and Ethernet IP segments, has reached $532 million in 2016, growing from $472 million in 2015. This is an impressive 13% Year-over-Year growth rate, and 12% CAGR since 2012!



Who integrate functions to interface a chip with others Read More


Portable Stimulus Standard, What’s New from Cadence

Portable Stimulus Standard, What’s New from Cadence
by Daniel Payne on 09-27-2017 at 12:00 pm

I’ve been hearing about the Portable Stimulus Standard (PSS) since DAC 2016, so it’s helpful to get an update from EDA vendors on what their involvement level is with this emerging standard and how they see it helping design and verification engineers. Earlier in September I scheduled a conference call with Cadence… Read More


Semiconductor and EDA 2017 Update!

Semiconductor and EDA 2017 Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-25-2017 at 7:00 am

It really is an exciting time in semiconductors. The benchmarks on the new Apple A11 SoC and the Nvidia GPU are simply amazing. Even though Moore’s Law is slowing, the resulting chips are improving well above and beyond expectations, absolutely.

As I have mentioned before, non-traditional chip companies such as Apple, Amazon,… Read More


Improved Memory Design, Characterization and Verification

Improved Memory Design, Characterization and Verification
by Daniel Payne on 09-19-2017 at 12:00 pm

My IC design career started out with DRAM design, characterization and verification back in the 1970’s, so I vividly recall how much SPICE circuit simulation was involved, and how little automation we had back in the day, so we tended to cobble together our own scripts to help automate the process a bit. With each new process… Read More


TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum 2017 Preview!

TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum 2017 Preview!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-23-2017 at 12:00 pm

The TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum is upon us again. I have yet to meet a disappointed attendee so it is definitely worth your time: Networking with more than 1,000 semiconductor professionals, the food, mingling with the 50+ EDA, IP, and Services Companies, the food, and of course the content. The 7nm and 7nm EUV updates alone are worth… Read More


Extraction Features for 7nm

Extraction Features for 7nm
by Tom Dillinger on 08-21-2017 at 12:00 pm

Frequent Semiwiki readers are familiar with the importance of close collaboration between the foundries and EDA tool developers, to provide the crucial features required by new process nodes. Perhaps the best illustration of the significance of this collaboration is the technical evolution of layout parasitic extraction.… Read More


Overcoming Mixed-Signal Design and Verification Challenges in Automotive and IoT Systems

Overcoming Mixed-Signal Design and Verification Challenges in Automotive and IoT Systems
by Daniel Payne on 08-10-2017 at 12:00 pm

At the recent DAC conference in Austin I attended a panel discussion over lunch where engineers from four companies talked about how they approached mixed-signal design and verification challenges for automotive and IoT systems. It seems like 2017 was the year of automotive at DAC, while in 2016 it was all about IoT. Both segmentsRead More


ADAS and Vision from Cadence

ADAS and Vision from Cadence
by Daniel Payne on 07-05-2017 at 12:00 pm

A huge theme at #54DAC this year was all things automotive and in particular the phrase ADAS (Assisted Driver Assistance Systems), so I followed up with Raja Tabet a corporate VP of emerging technology at Cadence. We met on Monday in a press room where I quickly learned that Cadence has been serving the automotive industry for the … Read More