Market Trends Motivate a Shift-Left in Functional Verification

Market Trends Motivate a Shift-Left in Functional Verification
by Jean-Marie Brunet on 09-15-2016 at 4:00 pm

Today, in the context of functional verification, industry trends are based on the needs of prominent vertical markets. There is some overlap in what these markets need, but there are some use models that are very specific to each market.

We assert this because we have a lot of customers asking about emulation solutions not from … Read More


A new world of 10nm design constraints

A new world of 10nm design constraints
by Beth Martin on 08-30-2016 at 4:00 pm

Every time the industry transitions to a smaller process node IC design software undergoes extensive updates.

I talked to a couple of experts in physical design at Mentor Graphics about what is involved in making place-and-route software ready for a new node. This is what I learned from Sudhakar Jilla, the IC design marketing director… Read More


Rigid-Flex Cabling is Cool! (and requires unique EDA support)

Rigid-Flex Cabling is Cool! (and requires unique EDA support)
by Tom Dillinger on 08-15-2016 at 10:00 am

The three F’s of electronic product development are: form, fit, and function. Although the F/F/F assessment typically refers to the selection of the right component, it most definitely also refers to the selection of the proper cabling between assemblies. The requirements for cables are varied, and demanding: ability… Read More


Can one process handle IIoT safety and security?

Can one process handle IIoT safety and security?
by Don Dingee on 07-20-2016 at 4:00 pm

SemiWiki had another article recently making the case that in IoT applications, safety and security are intertwined, adding that both are important, but they are not the same thing. Mentor Graphics has weighed in with a new white paper trying to tie both issues to a methodology.

Industrial IoT – or IIoT as you’ll often see in shorthand… Read More


Electrical-Optical Design, A Bridge to Terabitsia

Electrical-Optical Design, A Bridge to Terabitsia
by Mitch Heins on 07-19-2016 at 12:00 pm

If you don’t get the tongue in cheek reference of the title, you probably don’t have children who liked to watch Disney movies. All four of my daughters loved Disney and so, I am forever shaped by the Wonderful World of Disney. In 2007 Disney adapted to the screen a novel called, ‘A Bridge to Terabithia’, in which two adolescents escape… Read More


Two New Announcements from Tanner EDA at #53DAC

Two New Announcements from Tanner EDA at #53DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-27-2016 at 12:00 pm

Most mergers and acquisitions in the EDA world simply don’t work out financially a year or two after the deal is done, however I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tanner EDA is doing quite well at #53DAC this year after the acquisition by Mentor Graphics back in March 2015. Everyone that I’ve been meeting with at … Read More


Design for the System Age

Design for the System Age
by Bernard Murphy on 06-17-2016 at 7:00 am

Of late, it has become painfully obvious that the value of electronics is in the system. And since systems demand continuing improvement, increasing performance and decreasing cost (once partially guaranteed by semiconductor process advances) is now sought through algorithm advances – witness the Google TPU and custom… Read More


The Young and the Restless, PDA vs EDA, Photonic Soaps continued…

The Young and the Restless, PDA vs EDA, Photonic Soaps continued…
by Mitch Heins on 06-16-2016 at 7:00 am

If you’ve followed my last article, The Guiding Light and Other Photonic Soaps, you read my comments about the use of waveguides to “guide the light” in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). This article continues the soap opera theme, this time with the Young and the Restless. My point here is that I am continually struck by the dichotomies… 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