Tensilica: We are #2 so we try harder

Tensilica: We are #2 so we try harder
by Paul McLellan on 06-20-2012 at 1:00 pm

The Linley group is the go-to source for information about the microprocessor market. If you go back to their roots in Michael Slater’s Microprocessor Report then they have been in the business for 25 years. We haven’t had microprocessors for that much longer. They just tagged Tensilica as being second in shipments… Read More


Software-based Wi-Fi: DSP IP core

Software-based Wi-Fi: DSP IP core
by Eric Esteve on 05-23-2012 at 10:05 am

The recent announcement from CEVA that it has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance® to further advocate for a software-based Wi-Fi® strategy shows that the new CEVA-XC4000 DSP can be used in various communication protocols, not limited to the traditional baseband processing for the wireless handset phone, where DSP IP core usage is massive.… Read More


CEVA is the undisputed DSP worldwide leader

CEVA is the undisputed DSP worldwide leader
by Eric Esteve on 05-16-2012 at 10:54 am

Anybody working in the wireless handset segment probably knows that CEVA is the provider of DSP IP cores, and if you are simply a wireless handset user, you should know that the baseband digital signal processing is the function allowing your phone to process the RF (analog) signal coming from the outside world. If you have been involved… Read More


Linley Tech Mobile Conference

Linley Tech Mobile Conference
by Paul McLellan on 04-18-2012 at 2:14 pm

I went to part of the Linley Tech Mobile Conference. This is the current incarnation of what started life as Michael Slater’s Microprocessor Report, and the twice-yearly Microprocessor Forum. These very technical analysis organizations seem to work well when they are a small group of analysts working together to cover… Read More


Call for Papers: International Gathering for Application Developers!

Call for Papers: International Gathering for Application Developers!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-22-2012 at 8:40 pm

SemiWiki would like to call you, your co-workers, and your company to participate at ERSA Conference in Las Vegas , July 16-19, 2012. I will be there and it would be a pleasure to work with you on this very important event!

ERSA, is Engineering of Reconfigurable Systems and Algorithms. Since this year, the emphasis will be on the commercialRead More


LTE-Advanced Handsets for 4G

LTE-Advanced Handsets for 4G
by Paul McLellan on 02-21-2012 at 7:00 am

Due to a lot of somewhat aggressive marketing by carriers, you might think that 4G wireless is already here. After all, wasn’t 3G ages ago? But in fact true 4G handsets won’t really be available until 2015/6. But to make that schedule, first silicon needs to be available late this year or early next, to allow one or two … Read More


DARPA looking for new base stations in new BYOD game

DARPA looking for new base stations in new BYOD game
by Don Dingee on 02-15-2012 at 1:20 pm

BYOD – bring your own device – has swept enterprises like a firestorm as CEOs wonder why they can’t use their shiny new iPad on the corporate network, and send their IT guys and gals off to make it happen. Under the right conditions and informed use, BYOD can be a productivity boom and not mess security and privacy up too badly for many … Read More


View from the top: Chris Rowen

View from the top: Chris Rowen
by Paul McLellan on 12-20-2011 at 1:41 pm

I met with Chris Rowen, CEO of Tensilica, last week to get his outlook on the year ahead.

He gave me an interesting quote from his time at Silicon Graphics. “We wanted to be very fast in development not to be first to market but so that we could be the last to start.”

A lot of what Tensilica does is bound up with evolving standards in audio,… Read More


Not your father’s Tensilica

Not your father’s Tensilica
by Paul McLellan on 11-14-2011 at 5:27 pm

Tensilica has been around for quite a long time. Their key technology is a system for generating a custom processor, the idea being to better match the requirement of the processor for performance, power and area as compared with a fully-general purpose control processor (such as one of the ARM processors). Of course generating… Read More


How Avnera uses Hardware Configuration Management with Virtuoso IC Tools

How Avnera uses Hardware Configuration Management with Virtuoso IC Tools
by Daniel Payne on 04-21-2011 at 12:12 pm

Introduction
Here in the Silicon Forest (Oregon) we have a venture-backed, fabless analog semi company called Avnera that has designed over 10 Analog System on Chips (ASoC). Their chips are used in consumer products for both wireless audio and video applications.

 

James Rollins is the director of physical design at Avnera… Read More