More FPGA-based prototype myths quashed

More FPGA-based prototype myths quashed
by Don Dingee on 08-03-2015 at 12:00 pm

Speaking of having the right tools, FPGA-based prototyping has become as much if not more about the synthesis software than it is about the FPGA hardware. This is a follow-up to my post earlier this month on FPGA-based prototyping, but with a different perspective from another vendor. Instead of thinking about what else can be done… Read More


John Koeter: How To Be #1 in Interface IP

John Koeter: How To Be #1 in Interface IP
by Paul McLellan on 08-03-2015 at 7:00 am

John Koeter is in charge of marketing Synopsys’ IP and prototyping solutions. I talked to him last week.

He grew up in upstate New York, son of a Scottish mother and a Dutch father who immigrated to the US, so he is first generation American, unlike everyone else I’ve interviewed so far for this series who were born overseas.… Read More


ARM A57 (A53) Virtualizer + IP Accelerated = ?

ARM A57 (A53) Virtualizer + IP Accelerated = ?
by Eric Esteve on 05-12-2015 at 12:00 pm

Hybrid IP Prototyping Kit from Synopsys!
Synopsys has launched IP Accelerated initiative last year. The goal was clearly to accelerate Time-To-Market by providing a complete set of “tools” to augment design productivity:

  • IP Prototyping Kit with reference designs work out-of-the-box
  • IP software development kits enable early
Read More

Synopsys Earnings Call Q1 2015

Synopsys Earnings Call Q1 2015
by Paul McLellan on 02-20-2015 at 7:00 am

Synopsys announced their results yesterday. Their 2014 already ended, this is the end of their fiscal first quarter. On the call were Aart, one of Synopsys’s two co-CEOs, the other being Chi-Foon Chan; and Trac Pham, the new CFO on his first earnings call.

Synopsys’s results were good. A quick look at the results. Revenue was $542M… Read More


How Imagination tested the PowerVR Series6XT

How Imagination tested the PowerVR Series6XT
by Don Dingee on 01-23-2015 at 10:00 pm

We have been hearing for some time about the Synopsys HAPS-70 and how they have co-created the hardware and software architecture for FPGA-based prototyping with their customers. Now, we see details published by Synopsys on how they collaborated with Imagination on the design of the PowerVR Series6XT GPU.

The first thing to come… Read More


Synopsys Verification Continuum

Synopsys Verification Continuum
by Paul McLellan on 09-26-2014 at 4:00 pm

Verification spans a number of different technologies, from virtual platforms, RTL simulation, formal techniques, emulation and FPGA prototyping. Going back a few years, most of these technologies came from separate companies and one effect of this was that moving the design from one verification environment to another required… Read More


End-to-end look at Synopsys ProtoCompiler

End-to-end look at Synopsys ProtoCompiler
by Don Dingee on 07-28-2014 at 9:00 pm

Usually, we get the incremental story in news: this new release is x percent better at this or that than the previous release, and so on. Often missing is the big picture, telling how the pieces all tie together. Synopsys took on that challenge in their latest FPGA-based prototyping webinar. … Read More


IP Accelerated (Bye Bye EDA 360)

IP Accelerated (Bye Bye EDA 360)
by Eric Esteve on 06-12-2014 at 9:53 am

Synopsys has been extremely active, during the last 10 years, not only launching new IP products every year, but also running an ambitious acquisition strategy, with no less than 8 acquisitions. Cascade acquisition bring PCI Express (controller only), when Accelerant bring SerDes (the earth of any PHY IP). The MIPS/Chipidea… Read More


More knowledge, less time in FPGA-based prototyping

More knowledge, less time in FPGA-based prototyping
by Don Dingee on 04-29-2014 at 4:00 pm

I recently published a post on LinkedIn titled “Sometimes, you gotta throw it all out” in reference to the innovation process and getting beyond good to better. A prime example has crossed my desk: the new ProtoCompiler software for Synopsys HAPS FPGA-based prototyping systems.

Last week, I spoke with Troy Scott, product marketing… Read More


More to the story than bigger FPGA-based prototyping

More to the story than bigger FPGA-based prototyping
by Don Dingee on 08-19-2013 at 5:00 pm

Still not convinced on the value of FPGA-based prototyping systems, or using older technology? I’ve been trying to find the story beyond just bigger, badder FPGAs in a box that you pour RTL into – and found some hints in a webinar on the Synopsys HAPS-70 from earlier this year.… Read More