MIPI DevCon 2016: Opened to non-MIPI Members!

MIPI DevCon 2016: Opened to non-MIPI Members!
by Eric Esteve on 08-08-2016 at 7:00 am

The MIPI Alliance was founded in 2003 by large IDM to standardize chip-to-chip interfaces in the wireless phone (mobile) segment. The various MIPI specifications (CSI, DSI, DigRF and many more) have been adopted by the application processor chip makers (usually large IDM or fabless, like Intel or Qualcomm initially and many … Read More


IC and System Design for Mobile and Wearable Devices!

IC and System Design for Mobile and Wearable Devices!
by Daniel Nenni on 07-16-2016 at 7:00 am

The Linley Mobile and Wearable Conference is coming up so let’s take a look at what is in store for us. Bernard Murphy, Tom Simon, and I will be covering the event live for SemiWiki and we will also be doing a book giveaway/signing for our new “Prototypical” book (compliments of S2C Inc.) during the networking event on Tuesday evening.… Read More


10 signs on the neural-net-based ADAS road

10 signs on the neural-net-based ADAS road
by Don Dingee on 06-24-2016 at 12:00 pm

Every day I read stuff about the coming of fully autonomous vehicles, and it’s not every day we get a technologist’s view of the hurdles faced in getting there. Chris Rowen, CTO of Cadence’s IP group, gave one of the best presentations I’ve seen on ADAS technology and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) at #53DAC, pointing… Read More


IC Designers talk about 28nm to 7nm challenges at #53DAC

IC Designers talk about 28nm to 7nm challenges at #53DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-20-2016 at 12:00 pm

IC design challenges are different at advanced nodes like 7nm, so to learn more about the topic I attended a panel luncheon at DAC sponsored by Cadence. The moderator was both funny and technically astute, quite the rare combination, so kudos to Professor Rob Rutenbar, a former Neolinear guy now at the University of Illinois. Panelists… Read More


ARM sets up quagmire-free ecosystem for IoT

ARM sets up quagmire-free ecosystem for IoT
by Don Dingee on 06-10-2016 at 4:00 pm

Wandering around DAC this week, I found much of the discussion focused on the EDA community being at an inflection point. How do we get more design starts from new places with new ideas without jeopardizing existing business? It’s not as simple a transition as it sounds.… Read More


Reusable HW/SW Interface for Portable Stimulus

Reusable HW/SW Interface for Portable Stimulus
by Pawan Fangaria on 06-03-2016 at 7:00 am

Although semiconductor community has ushered into the era of SoCs, the verification of SoCs is still broken. There is no single methodology or engine to verify a complete SoC; this results in duplication of efforts and resources for test creation and verification at multiple stages in the SoC development, albeit with different… Read More


Six Reasons to Visit Cadence at #53DAC this Year in Austin

Six Reasons to Visit Cadence at #53DAC this Year in Austin
by Daniel Payne on 05-29-2016 at 4:00 pm

For bloggers like myself spending four days at #53DAC is almost a non-stop blur of activity, visiting EDA vendors, IP providers and foundries to learn about what’s happening in our semiconductor industry. Cadence is both an EDA vendor and IP provider, so DAC is a great showcase for them to tell us what’s new in 2016 and… Read More


Body-biasing for ARM big or LITTLE in GF 22FDX

Body-biasing for ARM big or LITTLE in GF 22FDX
by Don Dingee on 05-04-2016 at 4:00 pm

GLOBALFOUNDRIES has been evangelizing their 22FDX FD-SOI process for a few months; readers may have seen Tom Simon’s write-up of their preview at ARM TechCon. Dr. Joerg Winkler recently gave an updated webinar presentation of their approach in an implementation of ARM Cortex-A17 core.

By now, you’ve probably heard that 22FDX… Read More


Eight Improvements for PCB Software

Eight Improvements for PCB Software
by Daniel Payne on 05-04-2016 at 12:00 pm

I first met John Durbetaki at Intel in Aloha, Oregon and we both had a keen interest in the nascent personal computer industry. My first PC was made by Radio Shack and dubbed the TRS-80 which maxed out at 48KB of RAM. I kept watch on Durbetaki as he left Intel and formed his own company OrCAD in 1985 to serve the needs of PC-based CAD software.… Read More