End-to-end look at Synopsys ProtoCompiler

End-to-end look at Synopsys ProtoCompiler
by Don Dingee on 07-28-2014 at 9:00 pm

Usually, we get the incremental story in news: this new release is x percent better at this or that than the previous release, and so on. Often missing is the big picture, telling how the pieces all tie together. Synopsys took on that challenge in their latest FPGA-based prototyping webinar. … Read More


Hybrid Emulation

Hybrid Emulation
by Paul McLellan on 07-25-2014 at 9:01 am

Hybrid emulation is when part of the system is run in the emulator and part of the system is run in a virtual prototype. Typically a model of the processor(s) is run in the virtual platform and then the rest of the design is modeled by running the RTL on the emulator. I talked to Tom Borgstrom at Synopsys about what technology they have … Read More


Catching IC Manufacturing Defects With Slack-Based Transition Delay Testing

Catching IC Manufacturing Defects With Slack-Based Transition Delay Testing
by Daniel Payne on 07-16-2014 at 3:00 pm

Test engineers are often the unsung heroes in the semiconductor world, because they have the tough job of deciding if each IC is good or bad, while taking the least amount of time on a tester and ensuring that the tests are actually finding and uncovering all manufacturing and process variation defects. Simple stuck-at fault models… Read More


Synopsys Revamps Formal at #51DAC

Synopsys Revamps Formal at #51DAC
by Paul McLellan on 06-30-2014 at 6:02 pm

Synopsys announced verification compiler a couple of months ago and dropped hints about their static and formal verification. They haven’t announced anything much for a couple of years and it turns out that the reason was that they decided that the technology that they had, some internally developed and some acquired, … Read More


Intel Invests in the Fabless Ecosystem!

Intel Invests in the Fabless Ecosystem!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-22-2014 at 11:00 am

During my illustrious career one of the most useful axioms that I use just about everyday day is: “Understand what people say but also understand why they are saying it.” This certainly applies to press releases so let’s take a look at what Intel unleashed during #51DAC (in alphabetical order):

ANSYS And Intel Collaborate
Read More


ARC EM DSP supports Always-on Devices

ARC EM DSP supports Always-on Devices
by Eric Esteve on 06-22-2014 at 3:01 am

The ARC EM family is the low-power, embedded and low footprint processor part of the larger ARC processor. To target the ultra low-power markets like wearable and IoT, Synopsys has added DSP capabilities to EM5D and EM7D. To be specific, these cores are optimized for ultra low-power control and DSP, thanks to:

  • Energy-efficient
Read More

Product Marketing & the Butterfly Effect

Product Marketing & the Butterfly Effect
by Randy Smith on 06-15-2014 at 7:00 pm

I often feel that product marketing can simultaneously be an underrated and overrated function. More often than not, it suggests product goals, pricing, and positioning. Then the marketing department must defend those positions to both engineering and sales. However, both the engineering and sales departments can claim expertise… Read More


IoT Breakfast Panel at DAC

IoT Breakfast Panel at DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-03-2014 at 7:21 pm

Tuesday morning at DAC I enjoyed a free breakfast courtesy of Synopsysand GLOBALFOUNDRIESwhere I learned more about the emerging market of IoT, and what it means to semiconductor, EDA and IP vendors. Panelists included: Semico Research, HP, Synopsys, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Broadcom. … Read More


Synopsys @ #51DAC Must See!

Synopsys @ #51DAC Must See!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-14-2014 at 11:00 am

Accelerating Innovation—that has been at the heart of Synopsys’ commitment to its customers for more than 25 years. As a leader in EDA and semiconductor IP, Synopsys’ software, IP and services help engineers address their design, verification, system and manufacturing challenges and accelerate their innovations. Since 1986,… Read More