How many coats cover this SoC?

How many coats cover this SoC?
by Don Dingee on 03-11-2015 at 7:00 pm

“Most interior paint covers with one coat.” Back when there was something called a newspaper, this was an actual blurb in the home improvement pages, section 3, part 8, page 5 of the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, August 13, 1961. Even then, marketers were catering to consumers looking to cut corners and save time, and one-coat coverage… Read More


Verilog-AMS connects T-SPICE and Riviera-PRO

Verilog-AMS connects T-SPICE and Riviera-PRO
by Don Dingee on 12-20-2014 at 7:00 am

With advances in available IP, mixed signal design has become much easier. Mixed signal verification on the other hand is becoming more complicated. More complexity means more simulation, and in the analog domain, SPICE-based techniques grinding away on transistor models take a lot of precious time. Event-driven methods like… Read More


Verification plans overcome hope-based coverage

Verification plans overcome hope-based coverage
by Don Dingee on 11-29-2014 at 7:00 am

Coverage is an important yet elusive metric for design verification. It often seems 90% of coverage comes with 10% of the effort, and getting the final 10% covered takes the remaining 90% of a project. Usually, it takes another tool or methodology to get at the 10% the first tool missed. With 100% closure difficult, most teams inspect… Read More


Another debug view in the UVM Toolbox

Another debug view in the UVM Toolbox
by Don Dingee on 08-17-2014 at 1:00 am

One of the biggest endearing qualities of a debug environment for any type of coding is availability of multiple ways to accomplish a task. Whether the preference is keyboard shortcuts, mouse left-click drill-down and right-click pull-down menus, source code view, hierarchical class view, or graphical relationship view, … Read More


Now even I can spot bad UVM

Now even I can spot bad UVM
by Don Dingee on 03-11-2014 at 8:30 pm

Most programmers can read a code snippet and spot errors, given enough hours in the day, sufficient caffeine, and the right lens prescription. As lines of code run rampant, with more unfamiliar third-party code in the mix, interprocedural and data flow issues become more important – and harder to spot.

Verification IP particularly… Read More


Constrain all you want, we’ll solve more

Constrain all you want, we’ll solve more
by Don Dingee on 07-24-2013 at 8:30 pm

EDA tool development is always pushing the boundaries, driven in part by bigger, faster chips and more complex IP. For several years now, the trend has been developing tools that spot problems faster without waiting for the “big bang” synthesis result that takes hours and hours. Vendors, with help from customers, are tuning tools… Read More


Wireless Algorithm Validation from System to RTL to Test

Wireless Algorithm Validation from System to RTL to Test
by Daniel Nenni on 05-07-2013 at 8:05 pm

LSK 1123

This year’s #50DAC will be chock-full of technical content because that is what attracts the masses of semiconductor professionals, like moths to a flame, or like me to a Fry’s Electronics store. Interesting note, I went to high school with Randy Fry. His Dad started the Fry’s supermarket chain which he sold… Read More


Plotting to take over the time-domain only world

Plotting to take over the time-domain only world
by Don Dingee on 03-16-2013 at 10:00 am

The state machine nature of many digital designs has made time-domain debugging the favorite tool for most designers. We provide a set of inputs, data gets clocked in, and a set of outputs appears. We look for specific patterns in parallel paths, or sequences on serial lines.… Read More


EDA Solutions at Ultra Low Power Developer Forum Demonstrates Mixed-Signal Flow including Tools from Tanner EDA, Incentia and Aldec

EDA Solutions at Ultra Low Power Developer Forum Demonstrates Mixed-Signal Flow including Tools from Tanner EDA, Incentia and Aldec
by Daniel Payne on 10-04-2012 at 4:49 pm

EDA Solutions, sole representative in Europe for Tanner EDA and Incentia Design Systems, is exhibiting at the ‘Design & Elektronik’ Developer Forum on Ultra Low Power in Munich, Germany, on October 10, 2012, at the Holiday Inn (Munich – City Centre).

EDA Solutions will be presenting its complete analog, digital and… Read More