Semiconductors and Conflict Minerals

Semiconductors and Conflict Minerals
by Daniel Payne on 12-21-2015 at 12:00 pm

Our semiconductor industry uses many different materials and chemicals in the production of chips, boards and electronic systems. But what should we do if the minerals like tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold are coming from the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where armed bandits are forcing workers against… Read More


How Can Big Data and EDA Tools Help?

How Can Big Data and EDA Tools Help?
by Daniel Payne on 10-30-2015 at 12:00 pm

Big data is a headline phrase that I see appear almost weekly now in my newsfeed, so it’s probably time that I start paying more attention to the growing trend because it does impact how technology-driven, EDA tool flows are being used. From my last trip to DAC I recall only two companies that were really focused on system-level… Read More


Enterprise Design Management Comes of Age

Enterprise Design Management Comes of Age
by Tom Simon on 09-22-2015 at 12:00 pm

The motivations for having a data and process management system in place for semiconductor design have existed for a long time. I am reluctant to admit it, but I remember early efforts to do this back in the 80’s at Valid Logic. Cadence was also developing this capability in house through the early 90’s. Back then designs were much … Read More


Talking Directly to EDA R&D

Talking Directly to EDA R&D
by Daniel Payne on 08-02-2015 at 12:00 pm

Many EDA companies keep their R&D engineers focused on product development and bug fixing, shielding them from any and all direct contact with end-users, mostly for fear of what might be revealed if such direct dialog were allowed. Customer support people are allowed to talk directly with customers, then pass along enhancement… Read More


Filling the Gap between Design Planning & Implementation

Filling the Gap between Design Planning & Implementation
by Pawan Fangaria on 11-29-2014 at 7:00 pm

As every other person is talking about IoT today, Michael Munsey of Dassault Systemes looks at this trend in the context of critical success factors and Dassault’s strategy towards providing semiconductor solution that integrates the design chain and continues to keep the semiconductor eco-system healthy and profitable. … Read More


Smart Collaborative Design Reduces Business Risk

Smart Collaborative Design Reduces Business Risk
by Pawan Fangaria on 09-10-2014 at 4:00 pm

The semiconductor design industry is ever challenged with increasing chip density, manufacturing complexity with cutting-edge technologies, accommodating multiple IPs with different functionalities from various sources, optimizing power, performance and cost, maximizing manufacturability and reliability and still… Read More


Enterprise IP Management – A Whole New Gamut in Semiconductor Space

Enterprise IP Management – A Whole New Gamut in Semiconductor Space
by Pawan Fangaria on 07-29-2014 at 8:00 pm

The world of IPs in the semiconductor landscape has completely changed the semiconductor design scenario, specifically the fabless design space. Today IPs are key components of any large semiconductor design, in the same way as auto ancillaries in auto design. It’s just the beginning, in the days to come we will see SoCs just as… Read More


Panel: Strategies for Next Generation Semiconductor IP Management

Panel: Strategies for Next Generation Semiconductor IP Management
by Holly Stump on 05-16-2014 at 7:00 am

I just returned from the “Semiconductor Executive Briefing: Strategies for Next Generation Semiconductor IP Management” panel,held at the Computer History Museum, sponsored by Dassault Systèmes.

(Left to right) Moderator: Warren Savage, President and CEO, IPextreme, with panelists John Tam, Director of Business Development,Read More


Dassault Patent on Hierarchy Management

Dassault Patent on Hierarchy Management
by Paul McLellan on 11-05-2013 at 5:05 pm

Dassault have recently been granted a patent on their approach to managing design hierarchy. I asked them how long it took from filing the patent until it was granted and they said the whole process had taken 8 years. It is a bit of an indictment of the patent system when it takes 8 years, also known as 4 or 5 process nodes, for a patent to… Read More


Dassault’s Simulation Lifecycle Management

Dassault’s Simulation Lifecycle Management
by Paul McLellan on 09-21-2013 at 4:29 pm

The first thing to realize about Dassault’s Simulation Lifecycle Management platform is that in the non-IC world where Dassault primarily operates, simulation doesn’t just mean functional verification or running Spice. It is anything during the design that produces analytical data. All of that data is important… Read More