Accellera Unveils PSS 2.0 – Production Ready

Accellera Unveils PSS 2.0 – Production Ready
by Bernard Murphy on 05-27-2021 at 6:00 am

PSSToolFlow min

I recently had a discussion with Tom Fitzpatrick of Siemens and Faris Khundakjie of Intel on the latest release of the Portable Test and Stimulus Standard (PSS). Faris chairs the PSS working group and Tom is vice-chair. In what follows I synthesize feedback from both, sometimes I call out interesting individual comments. My first… Read More


Does the G in GDDR6 stand for Goldilocks?

Does the G in GDDR6 stand for Goldilocks?
by Tom Simon on 10-16-2018 at 12:00 pm

In the wake of TSMC’s recent Open Innovation Platform event, I spoke to Frank Ferro, Senior Director of Product Management at Rambus. His presentation on advanced memory interfaces for high-performance systems helped to shed some light on the evolution of system memory for leading edge applications. System implementers now… Read More


Living on the (IoT) Edge

Living on the (IoT) Edge
by Tom Simon on 08-09-2018 at 12:00 pm

The phrase “where the rubber meets the road” is especially apt when it comes to discussions about the Internet of Things. The obvious interpretation is that dissimilar things are being put together in a mutually dependent fashion. When I hear the phrase I always think of the things that can go wrong, such a tire sliding instead of … Read More


Functional Safety is a Driving Topic for ISO 26262

Functional Safety is a Driving Topic for ISO 26262
by Tom Simon on 05-23-2018 at 12:00 pm

When I was young, functional safety for automobiles consisted of checking tread depth and replacing belts and hoses before long trips. I’ll confess that this was a long time ago. Though even not that long ago, the only way you found out about failing systems was going to the mechanic and having them hook up a reader to the OBD port. Or,… Read More


SPI Inspires a New Generation of SOC Designs

SPI Inspires a New Generation of SOC Designs
by Tom Simon on 02-15-2018 at 12:00 pm

When I started dabbling in hardware again for fun using Arduinos about five years ago, it had been a long time since I had played with microprocessor chips. The epiphany for me was seeing how easy it was to load programs onto the onboard flash on something like an Atmel AVR using the SPI interface. My previous experience decades early… Read More


Context is Everything – especially for autonomous vehicle IP

Context is Everything – especially for autonomous vehicle IP
by Tom Simon on 01-24-2018 at 7:00 am

GM has just announced that it will introduce a car with no steering wheel or pedals in 2019. According to their statement, they have already planned four phases of their autonomous driving system, and they will plan many more. However, before we jump into this latest car and not grab the wheel for a spin, it is reasonable to ask about… Read More


The lofty rise of the lowly FPGA

The lofty rise of the lowly FPGA
by Tom Simon on 01-10-2018 at 7:00 am

FPGA programmable logic has served in many capacities since it was introduced back in the early 80’s. Recently, with designers looking for innovative ways to boost system performance, FPGA’s have moved front and center. This initiative has taken on new urgency with the slowing down of process node based performance gains. The… Read More


High performance processor IP targets automotive ISO 26262 applications

High performance processor IP targets automotive ISO 26262 applications
by Tom Simon on 11-09-2017 at 12:00 pm

The reason you are seeing a lot more written about the ISO 26262 requirements for automotive electronics is, to put it bluntly, this stuff is getting real. Driver assist systems are no longer only found in the realm of Mercedes and Tesla, almost every car in every brand offers some driver assist features. However, the heavy lifting… Read More


The perfect pairing of SOCs and embedded FPGA IP

The perfect pairing of SOCs and embedded FPGA IP
by Tom Simon on 10-30-2017 at 12:00 pm

In life, there are some things that just go together. Imagine the world without peanut butter and jelly, eggs and potatoes, telephones and voicemail, or the internet and search engines. In the world of computing there are many such examples – UARTS and FIFO’s, processor cores and GPU’s, etc. Another trait all these things have is… Read More


Power Noise Sign-off at #53DAC

Power Noise Sign-off at #53DAC
by Daniel Payne on 05-29-2016 at 7:00 am

When I hear the company name of ANSYS the first EDA tool category that comes to mind is power noise sign-off. Going to DAC is a great way to find out what’s new with EDA, IP and foundries. There are three places that you can find ANSYS at DAC this year:… Read More