S2C tutorial and PROTOTYPICAL debut at DAC

S2C tutorial and PROTOTYPICAL debut at DAC
by Don Dingee on 05-18-2016 at 4:00 pm

It’s been a busy few days here in Canyon Lake, and we’re ready to share exciting news in advance of #53DAC coming up on Monday, June 6[SUP]th[/SUP]. S2C is offering a technical program tutorial on “Overcoming the Challenges of FPGA Prototyping” followed by the launch of our latest book project, “PROTOTYPICAL”, including a field… Read More


Debugging is the whole point of prototyping

Debugging is the whole point of prototyping
by Don Dingee on 04-15-2016 at 4:00 pm

The prototype is obviously the end goal of FPGA-based prototyping, however success of the journey relies on how quickly defects can be found and rectified. Winning in the debug phase involves a combination of methodology, capability, and planning. Synopsys recently aired a webinar on their HAPS environment and its debug ecosystem.… Read More


Webinar alert – Taking UVM to the FPGA bank

Webinar alert – Taking UVM to the FPGA bank
by Don Dingee on 04-08-2016 at 4:00 pm

UVM has become a preferred environment for functional verification. Fundamentally, it is a host based software simulation. Is there a way to capture the benefits of UVM with hardware acceleration on an FPGA-based prototyping system? In an upcoming webinar, Doulos CTO John Aynsley answers this with a resounding yes.… Read More


Speaking about the Internet of Trust on April 21

Speaking about the Internet of Trust on April 21
by Don Dingee on 03-14-2016 at 4:00 pm

Five minutes to ruin a reputation built over 20 years, as Warren Buffett put it, holds true in personal relationships. On the Internet of Things, reputations can disappear in five seconds. How do we move from merely intelligent Things to a level where devices have to be Trusted?… Read More


Post-making new Things stand out on the IoT

Post-making new Things stand out on the IoT
by Don Dingee on 03-07-2016 at 4:00 pm

Sales says this next IoT project is going to be huge. Engineering isn’t so sure. Marketing says we should pilot it to find out. If it were just software, it might not be such a problem, but with hardware comes investment tradeoffs. Without guaranteed volumes of millions of units, are ASICs a realistic option to hit aggressive size,… Read More


Aldec reprograms HES7 for AXI4 speed

Aldec reprograms HES7 for AXI4 speed
by Don Dingee on 02-26-2016 at 4:00 pm

FPGA-based prototyping firms are all grappling with the problem of higher speed connectivity between a development host and their hardware. Aldec is announcing their solution at DVCon 2016, turning to an AMBA AXI4 interface bridged into a host with PCIe x8.

Faster host interfaces deliver dual benefits in FPGA-based prototyping.… Read More


Fastest SoC time-to-success: emulators, or FPGA-based prototypes?

Fastest SoC time-to-success: emulators, or FPGA-based prototypes?
by Don Dingee on 02-11-2016 at 12:00 pm

Hardware emulators and FPGA-based prototyping systems are descendants of the same ancestor. The Quickturn Systems Rapid Prototype Machine (RPM) introduced in May 1988 brought an array of Xilinx XC3090 FPGAs to emulate designs with hundreds of thousands of gates. From there, hardware emulators and FPGA-based prototyping … Read More


Should there be a 5-second IoT chip rule?

Should there be a 5-second IoT chip rule?
by Don Dingee on 01-12-2016 at 12:00 pm

Kids have a tendency to put things in their mouths. Any parent can relate to the statement, “Put that down! You don’t know where it’s been!” After the first child, concern usually relaxes quite a bit. People joke about a 5-second rule on the premise if an object was just dropped on the floor, it may not be contaminated yet.… Read More


Pushing on AXI-connected IP in FPGAs

Pushing on AXI-connected IP in FPGAs
by Don Dingee on 11-03-2015 at 12:00 pm

Success stories are great. Reading how someone uses a product contributes much more insight than reading about a product. Last month we had a teaser for a presentation by Wave Semiconductor; this month, we have the slides showing how they are using FPGA-based prototyping, AXI transactions, and DPI to speed up development.

First,… Read More


S2C ships UltraScale empowering SoFPGA

S2C ships UltraScale empowering SoFPGA
by Don Dingee on 10-10-2015 at 7:00 am

Most of the discussion around Xilinx UltraScale parts in FPGA-based prototyping modules has been on capacity, and that is certainly a key part of the story. Another use case is developing, one that may be even more important than simply packing a bigger design into a single part without partitioning. The real win with this technology… Read More