Designing an ASIC is little bit like trying to hit the bullseye, in the dark. I’ve spent several decades in the ASIC business I can tell you this is what it’s like from first-hand experience. When the design team sets out to build a custom chip to make their product better, faster, more robust, etc. (pick the words you like), there is … Read More
If I ask the question, “What has grown 4,000x over the last twenty-five years?”, most people will start throwing names of some stocks. Although various stock markets have had crazy run ups and yes, there is a stock that has grown 2,500x over that period of time, the answer to the 4,000x question is not a stock. What if I modify the question… Read More
Over the last decade or so, the automotive industry has been rapidly adopting and deploying innovative and revolutionary technologies in automobiles. One such revolution is the autonomous vehicle technology. While this technology is not fully mature yet, some components of this technology are. Many late model automobiles… Read More
In every chip, power is a progressive problem to be solved. Designers have long had to rely on a combination of experience and knowledge to tackle this dilemma, typically having to wait until after silicon availability to perform power analysis with realistic software workloads. However, this is too late in the game, as it becomes… Read More
The move to true 3D IC, monolithic 3D SOC and 3D heterogeneous integration may require one of the most major design tool architecture overhauls since IC design tools were first developed. While we have been taking steps toward 3DIC with 2.5D designs with interposers, HBM, etc., the fundamental tools and flows remain intact in many… Read More
Automotive segment is a market that has historically been supported by a few select suppliers within the semiconductor ecosystem. Over the last decade, this market has transitioned from just being about reliability, performance, fuel efficiency, etc., to placing equal importance to user experience. This user experience … Read More
If you ascribe to the notion that things move in circles, or concentrically, the move to die-to-die connectivity makes complete sense. Just as multi-chip modules (MCM) were the right technology decades ago to improve power, areas, performance and cost, the use of chiplets with die-to-die connections provides many advantages… Read More
Thanks to advanced hardware and software, smart vehicles are improving with every generation. Capabilities that once seemed far-off and futuristic—from automatic braking to self-driving at the very pinnacle—are now either standard or within reach. However, considering how vehicle architectures have continued to evolve,… Read More
On July 30, 2020, NASA launched the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which is scheduled to land today. Perseverance has been deployed to Mars with a new mission: to search for evidence of past life and collect samples that will eventually be brought back to Earth by future missions.
Just prior to this year’s Synopsys User Group (SNUG) meeting, I had a call with Hany Elhak, Group Director of Product Management and Marketing at Synopsys, to talk about their latest announcements for analog simulation. Synopsys usually has big things to talk about each year around this time – this year is no exception. Hany… Read More
