New Book on Design Constraints

New Book on Design Constraints
by Paul McLellan on 07-20-2013 at 10:18 pm

There is a new book out from Springer. The subtitle is actually a better description that the title. The subtitle is A Practical Guide to Synopsys Design Constraints (SDC) but the title isConstraining Designs for Synthesis and Timing Analysis. The authors are Sridhar Gangadharan of Atrenta in San Jose and Sanjay Churiwala of Xilinx… Read More


TSMC and Xilinx on the FinFAST Track!

TSMC and Xilinx on the FinFAST Track!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-23-2013 at 2:00 am

The power of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem never ceases to amaze me. On one hand you have the Intel backed press crowing about Intel stealing Altera from TSMC. On the other hand you have Xilinx and TSMC crowing about a new ‘one-team’ approach. If you are interested in the real story you’ve come to the right place.

“Altera’sRead More


GPU vs. FPGA

GPU vs. FPGA
by Luke Miller on 06-09-2013 at 9:00 pm

I just don’t understand it? My kids love surprises but I have yet to find management that does, go figure but boy during a review they can really spring them on ya! What surprises me is the absurdness of my title, GPU vs. FPGA. FPGAs are not GPUs and likewise but none the less there is the push to make a fit where nature does not allow. I liken… Read More


Which is the best FPGA – Xilinx

Which is the best FPGA – Xilinx
by Luke Miller on 05-06-2013 at 10:00 am

Your corporate training will teach you there is no such thing as stereo types and they are bad, naughty. We all know they are true; it’s just some companies now of days try to force the worker bees to do a flash erase and drop your brain at the door. I never participated in that and as you can imagine it went very well. Dilbert is true…

I am … Read More


FPGAs – The Possibilities are Endless – Almost

FPGAs – The Possibilities are Endless – Almost
by Luke Miller on 04-26-2013 at 8:00 pm

Has your wife ever said “Your name, I’m not a computer”? Well maybe mine has. I know what you are thinking… This guy is married? Yup, I over achieved too. Have child #7 on the way Lord willing, so you probably guessed I don’t follow much of the world’s planning and such. Like you, no one in my house really understands what I do, nor cares … Read More


A bird told me the EDPS Monterey Conference was a great success

A bird told me the EDPS Monterey Conference was a great success
by Camille Kokozaki on 04-20-2013 at 8:10 pm

The 20th annual Electronic Design Process Symposium (EDPS) held April 18-19 at the Monterey Beach Hotel in Monterey California was an unqualified success. I know this because a bird (seagull?) sitting on the window sill of the conference room was so captivated by the fascinating insight provided by a number of luminaries that … Read More


FPGAS – The New Single Board Computers?

FPGAS – The New Single Board Computers?
by Luke Miller on 04-16-2013 at 10:00 pm

I have always felt that FPGAs have been the red haired step child of Silicon Valley. Software weenies have hated them, they are mysterious and take too long to route. Even though they can be massively parallel and the most deterministic piece of silicon you can buy besides a million dollar ASIC, the GPU steals their glory, for now. … Read More


Xilinx: Hide the RTL

Xilinx: Hide the RTL
by Paul McLellan on 04-16-2013 at 7:30 pm

Tom Feist of Xilinx presented here at the GlobalPress Electronics Summit about their strategy to take design abstraction up another level. In the SoC world, we are still pretty much stuck at the RTL level and have moved to higher abstractions by using an IP strategy. But at least all IC designers are RTL-literate.


Xilinx, in the Vivado… 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


High Level Synthesis – It’s for Real

High Level Synthesis – It’s for Real
by Luke Miller on 04-11-2013 at 8:30 pm

It was spring 2010 and I was asked to attend an HLS (High Level Synthesis) meeting. To be honest I cringed, after my bad relationship with Accel DSP and broken promises my heart was all walled up and needed counseling. But my management had a way of making me an offer I could not refuse, like keeping my job. So reluctantly I went. Does your… Read More