Chasing DP Rabbits

Chasing DP Rabbits
by SStalnaker on 04-15-2013 at 4:00 pm

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
—Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

The use of stitching can greatly reduce the number of double patterning (DP) decomposition violations that a designer has to resolve.… Read More


Ivo Bolsens’ Keynote on the All-Programmable SoC

Ivo Bolsens’ Keynote on the All-Programmable SoC
by Paul McLellan on 04-13-2013 at 8:00 pm

Ivo Bolsens, the CTO of Xilinx, is giving the opening keynote at the Electronic Design Process Symposium (EDPS) in Monterey on Thursday and Friday this coming week. The title of his keynote is The All Programmable SoC – At the Heart of Next Generation Embedded Systems. He covers a lot of ground but the core of his presentation… Read More


3D IC: Are We There Yet?

3D IC: Are We There Yet?
by Paul McLellan on 04-13-2013 at 4:42 pm

For the last few years, thru silicon via (TSV) based ICs have been looming in the mist of the future. Just how far ahead are they? Xiliinx famously has a high-end gate-array in production on a 2.5D interposer, Micron has a memory cube, TSMC has done various things in 3D that it calls CoWoS (chip on wafer on substrate), Qualcomm have been… Read More


TSMC Responds to Samsung!

TSMC Responds to Samsung!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-12-2013 at 10:00 pm

This was the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] annual TSMC Symposium and by far the best I have attended. Finally tired of the misinformation that plagues our industry, TSMC set the record straight with wafer and silicon correlated data. TSMC shipped more than 88 MILLION logic wafers in 2012, more than any other semiconductor company, that gives… Read More


How to make ESL really work – see EDPS

How to make ESL really work – see EDPS
by John Swan on 04-12-2013 at 6:53 pm

The Electronic Design Process Symposium (EDPS) is April 18 & 19 in Monterey. The workshop style Symposium is in its 20[SUP]th[/SUP] year. The first session is titled “ESL & Platforms”, which immediately follows the opening Keynote address by Ivo Bolsens, CTO of Xilinx.

In his keynote presentation Ivo will present how… Read More


Fabless to OIP

Fabless to OIP
by Paul McLellan on 04-10-2013 at 7:22 pm

Suk Lee drew the short straw at the TSMC Symposium yesterday, with the 5pm slot. Not only late in the day but between all the attendees and free beer. The morning sessions had been standing room only, with several hundred standees (as they call them on muni around here, but isn’t a standee really someone being stood on?). But … Read More


Mentor U2U, Not Your Father’s User Conference

Mentor U2U, Not Your Father’s User Conference
by Paul McLellan on 04-10-2013 at 6:00 pm

I talked to Michael Buehler-Garcia about the changes Mentor is making to U2U, their user conference. It is in San Jose on April 25th at the DoubleTree.

Firstly, there are 3 great keynotes, two of whom I’ve seen speak before and can unreservedly recommend. Unfortunately I’m traveling that week and won’t be able… Read More


Cadence Sues Berkeley Design Automation

Cadence Sues Berkeley Design Automation
by Paul McLellan on 04-10-2013 at 10:03 am

Cadence has brought a suit against Berkeley Design Automation for, as far as I can see, integrating their AFS circuit simulator with the Virtuoso Analog Design Environment (ADE) without using the (licensed) Oasis product. Since BDA is (actually was) a member of the Cadence Connections program, they have to abide by the contract… Read More


GlobalFoundries in Singapore

GlobalFoundries in Singapore
by Paul McLellan on 04-09-2013 at 11:12 pm

I hosted a webinar today for GlobalFoundries. Yes, I know that today was TSMC’s Technology Symposium, we weren’t that smart when we picked the date. It was basically a “fireside chat” with me as the moderator asking the questions and Paul Colestock and Aabid Husain as my guests. We actually did it at Cadence… Read More


Manage your IC’s Stress for right performance

Manage your IC’s Stress for right performance
by Pawan Fangaria on 04-09-2013 at 9:30 pm

As we have moved towards lower process nodes to improve performance of ICs with higher density and functionality, many manufacturing effects have appeared which can render ICs useless, even though the layout design could be correct as per traditional design rules. What is more worrisome is the variability of these effects which… Read More