The nearly unavoidable truth about dynamic voltage drop (DVD) signoff for power distribution networks (PDN) is that the quality of results depends on the quality and quantity of the vectors used to activate the circuit switching. As SOCs grow larger and are implemented on smaller nodes, the challenges of sufficient coverage … Read More
The electronic design community is well aware that it faces a daunting challenge to analyze and sign off the next generation of huge multi-die 3D-IC systems. Most of today’s EDA tools require extraordinary resources in specialized computers with terabytes of RAM and hundreds of processors. Customers don’t want to keep buying… Read More
I’m a fan of getting customer reality checks on advanced design technologies. This is not so much because vendors put the best possible spin on their product capabilities; of course they do (within reason), as does every other company aiming to stay in business. But application by customers on real designs often shows lower performance,… Read More
I’m not going to be at DAC this year because I scheduled a fishing trip at the end of June, assuming the show would stay true to form as an early/mid-June event. Still, having to endure salmon and halibut fishing in Alaska rather than slogging around Moscone Center, I can’t pretend to be too disappointed; I’ll be thinking of you all 😎.… Read More
While it’s interesting to hear a tool-vendor’s point of view on the capabilities of their product, it’s always more compelling to hear a customer/user point of view, especially when that customer is NVIDIA, a company known for making monster chips.
A quick recap on the concept. At 7nm, operating voltages are getting much closer… Read More
A year ago, I wrote about Ansys’ intro of Big Data methods into the world of power integrity analysis. The motivation behind this advance was introduced in another blog, questioning how far margin-based approaches to complex multi-dimensional analyses could go. An accurate analysis of power integrity in a complex chip should… Read More
In the 35 years since commercial EDA went mainstream a lot of advances have been made but the fundamental architecture and even the philosophy of tooling have really not advanced at all. Tools are designed around individual tasks – analysis and optimization within a specific domain – under the assumption that variability within… Read More
