John's Semi-Blog

DAC 2015 Pointers

2015-04-23T11:00:00.001-07:00

For DAC, my first advice would be to do I Love DAC, It could be all you need: 3 free days of Exhibits, Keynotes, Skytalks and Designer Track Poster Session.

Next step to consider is the $95 "Designer Special" which adds the "IP Track" and "Designer Track". Beyond that, registration starts to get expensive. PERSONALLY, I don't get that much out of the hardcore academic papers--I associate them with PhD research and not much immediate impact on my job. But, if you're really into EDA or VLSI research, you could have a different outlook.

Public transportation is convenient, too.

The Day We Fight Back

2014-02-11T07:52:00.002-08:00

February 11, 2014 marked The Day We Fight Back, a day to protest governments' mass surveillance of citizens' Internet communications.

O'Reilly Cyber Monday Deal: ALL E-Books 50% Off

2013-12-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

This is the best deal of the year for O'Reilly's outstanding technical books, because it covers ALL their titles. One day only, December 2, 2013.

At Least EDA Isn't Up to 15

2013-07-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

Q.v., HDL, Power Format, Library Format, Timing Model.

Big Changes at EE Times, Cadence Gets More Social

2013-05-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to see EE Times and its sister publications ending their print runs after many years. In my career, it was the original and most highly valued industry news source. It was a thrill to "qualify" for a subscription and receive the first issue addressed to me in my first job.

Several top media types have now landed at Cadence as they beef up their social media presence. The latest is former EE Times editor Brian Fuller, as announced in Right Turn on Seely Avenue -- A New Blog from Brian Fuller.

Both Synopsys and Cadence are making significant efforts in reaching social media, and it's interesting to see the different approaches. Synopsys has long been cultivating in-house talent and has first-mover advantage. Cadence has taken a shortcut by hiring top-notch journalists.

We can enjoy both perspectives, but certainly miss the more objective reporting formerly provided by third-party media.

Curate This!

2013-01-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

At the dawn of time, a "blog" was short for Weblog -- primarily a way to share links of interest with like-minded people. To use one of the buzzwords of 2012, blogs were to "curate" web content.

Lately, I find myself doing more tweeting than blogging -- it's a quick and easy way to share links of interest. Here's a sample of what's happening in our "Semiconductor EDA" field, #semieda:
Tweets about "#semieda"

The New, New Colossus

2012-10-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks I've come across a number of compelling pleas for the US government to target immigration and specifically "green card" quotas at the highly-skilled Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) professionals that we need in the high tech industry.

I don't think it's some coordinated conspiracy to push this agenda, but rather good long-term policy for our economic well-being.

Microsoft suggests charging employers for extra worker visas

Why Silicon Valley is losing its luster

Crovitz: Washington's New Twist on Human Sacrifice. (may require a Wall Street Journal subscription--sorry)

Quite a twist from the original immigration ideal; an update for the "flat" world?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

-- Excerpt from The New Colossus

Apple's A6 chip development detailed

2012-09-20T08:08:00.001-07:00

A glimpse into Apple's CPU development strategies and personnel:
Apple's A6 chip development detailed | Apple - CNET News

I'd like to know how much of Apple's acquisitions were for the people with skills vs. the IP that these companies brought with them. For example, Intrinsity was noted for a type of Dynamic logic design, but I wonder if such techniques are suitable for advanced-process ultra low-power processors?

Zombie Software Considered Harmful

2012-08-22T17:57:00.001-07:00

As much as I complain about the quality of EDA software, I've never heard of anything like these tidbits from the Knight Capital financial fiasco: "Zombie Software" Blamed for Knight Capital Trading Snafu - IEEE Spectrum.

Spy vs. Spy in the Chip World

2012-06-20T14:35:00.001-07:00

Schneier on Security: Backdoor Found (Maybe) in Chinese-Made Military Silicon Chips
tells a tale of chips "manufactured in China", that could be "infected". The chip in question is "prevalent in many systems from weapons, nuclear power plants to public transport".The publicizers of this vulnerability appear quite proud of their discovery and reverse engineering skills.

The chip in question is a type of programmable device (FPGA), hence the assertion that it is used in such a variety of applications. And, the back door is apparently related to the JTAG port.

Check out the story and the insightful comments. I'm inclined to think this is a tempest in a teapot, but it's an interesting topic to ponder.

If such a problem needs solving, a company that I met at DAC may have just the solution. Check out SypherMedia International for all your circuit obfuscation needs!

My DAC Shopping List

2012-06-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

DAC is next week! Are you ready? Organized? Got those appointments line up?

Hopefully you're better prepared than I and started your research before yesterday. What sparked my action (finally) was a colleague asking me "what to see" at DAC.

Caveats

I'm not including the major EDA vendors, particularly Synopsys. It's not because they're not interesting, but because they do a good job of keeping me informed, and I have other avenues for updates.
My interest is in design implementation, so my picks are focused in that area. I don't work much with Verification tools. It's not to say there isn't equal or more innovation in that realm.
The list is compiled from what's in my head and what interested me from my email Inbox. I hope to do more research and add more links over the coming days.

My List

Oasys: The most interesting synthesis competitor. Good buzz for the past several years, and backing from major customers like Intel and Xilinx.
Calypto: They're doing interesting things combining ESL design and verification, and have innovative products for power optimization.
RealIntent: Up and coming RTL Analysis company. Agile and innovative.
Forte: I'm forever trying to figure out where ESL design and synthesis fits. They've been working on this for years.
ChipEstimate: Silicon IP is important and will only grow more so as chip capacity grows exponentially. ChipEstimate helps provide the catalog and planning tools for assembling an SoC.
Atrenta: I haven't looked closely at what they're planning for DAC, but have caught a few headlines that refer to some mysterious big announcement. Will have to check it out.

Other Voices

Gary Smith's What to See at DAC 2012 list.
John Cooley's My Cheesy Must See List for DAC 2012.
EE Times New companies at DAC for the first time in 2012. I can't figure out the URL, so leave it as an exercise for you to find. It's compiled by Brian Bailey.

Ridiculous Automation

2012-05-03T08:46:00.001-07:00

Saw an article in the paper about this UC Berkeley EECS undergrad's "Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm" (BRAD).

What a cool renovation of an otherwise very utilitarian cramped dorm room!
The article mentioned that he was being questioned by campus facilities.
Let's hope Cal has the good sense to encourage such exceptional creativity and engineering.
Go Bears!

Qualcomm Co-Founder on Life & Keys to Success

2012-04-05T17:29:00.003-07:00

Nice profile of one of Qualcomm's founders. It's remarkable what humble aspirations the company started with, and where they are today. I believe their first major success was a radio network for trucking fleets!

Graphene, Your Next Switch?

2012-01-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

When silicon transistors finally run out of gas, graphene-based logic is one of the candidates to replace it. Graphene: The Ultimate Switch - IEEE Spectrum is a very readable technical description of how graphene behaves and how it might be used in computing.

The Evolution of Conference Schwag

2012-01-20T16:28:00.000-08:00

I noticed a lonely unused USB drive in my desk today, and it got me thinking about the hoops that we engineers will jump through to get a conference giveaway. It's an arms race!

In the beginning, there was the t-shirt ...

I just took a box full of bags and backpacks to the donation station ...

USB drives were once precious ...

An iPod is still a pretty cool gift ...

But today's holy grail is the iPad.

Note, none of the pictures are of my schwag. I grabbed photos available under Creative Commons license.

Synopsys/ Magma - Gary Smith's take

2012-01-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

Gary Smith gives his informed perspective on Synopsys/ Magma - Great Acquisition, Difficult Merger :: Gary Smith EDA. I like that he names names with respect to which Synopsys products aren't cutting it. On paper, it seemed like a great deal of overlap between the two companies. But Gary argues that Synopsys wasn't competitive in several of these areas, and the Magma tools will give them a stronger line-up.

This point is hard to argue with:

The static timing analyzer will be a big issue with the customer base. With their recent acquisition of Extreme DA, and now Magma, Synopsys has regained their Franchise position in the important Static Timing market. This is not a good thing for the design engineer. Only competition drives tool improvements.

But how's this for bravado?

Magma brags that they can achieve better results with a five man team than Synopsys can with a fifty man team.

That's the sort of claim I might believe from an EDA startup; could a public company (no longer a spring chicken) be so agile, or is this coming from the supreme confidence of their CEO?

The Engadget Interview: ARM co-founder John Biggs

2012-01-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012! The Engadget Interview: ARM co-founder John Biggs -- Engadget covers the interesting history, philosophy, and future of ARM Holdings. As you will learn from the article, it's a company that might never have been started were it not for Intel.

Unix's Long Strange Trip

2011-12-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

If you love computers and history as much as I do, you'll enjoy The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix - IEEE Spectrum.

Such a wisely designed system to be pervasive after 40 years!

Snapdragon Buggy?

2011-11-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

3D ICs Have a History

2011-11-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

Steve’s Improbable History of 3D ICs? Six decades of 3D electronic packaging | EDA360 Insider is a great quick history (with pictures!) of 3-dimensional chips (actually, going back to the vacuum tube days).

Practical takeaway: stacked memory is clearly one of the killer apps for 21st-century 3D IC assembly.

SNUG Silicon Valley 2012 CFP

2011-11-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Call for Papers is OPEN for SNUG Silicon Valley!

If you're a Synopsys tool user, please consider submitting a paper today for presentation at SNUG Silicon Valley. You can propose a paper by filling out a form and writing an abstract. Besides benefiting the engineering community at large, you'll develop your professional skills and raise your profile. We on the Tech Committee will help you!

Please visit the Call for Papers Web Page to check it out and submit your idea.

Career Fodder

2011-11-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking to write a post on immigration and careers, but for now let me point you to two provocative articles I recently read:

Steve Jobs's Advice for Obama. While I love the acronym: the Staple Act (Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.s from Leaving the Economy), the article also claims that Steve Jobs told Mr. Obama that Apple employs 700,000 factory workers in China because it can't find the 30,000 engineers in the U.S. that it needs on site at its plants. "If you could educate these engineers," he said at the dinner, "we could move more manufacturing jobs here." Quite a claim!
Non-engineer-staffed IEEE-USA sells out US electrical engineering jobs, a forum post on SemiWiki.com, sparks an excellent debate about US engineering grad schools, H1B and "green cards", and career prospects for American engineers (and their children).

Dilbert Channels Apple

2011-09-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Dilbert is poking fun at Apple Store training! Will this be the start of a series?

How does it apply to our world? "As it turns out, you can't get your data out of our EDA tool ..."

Twitter Primer

2011-09-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

For several years, Synopsys has a group of folks participating in social media (blogging, tweeting, etc.). Why, they've even written a book about it!

If you've heard about Twitter but don't know what it's all about, here's their article to succinctly show you the answers: The Listening Post » Twitter Helps Engineers.

What tweets might you find related to EDA on Twitter? Here's a real-time display:

Architecting for Asynchronous Designs

2011-09-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've long been fascinated by asynchronous logic design (filed under "magic they don't teach you in school"). And a startup called Fulcrum was one of the more successful at commercializing designs based on these tecniques. Recently, Intel acquired Fulcrum. Here, Ron Wilson shares some insights into what applications the asynchronous style excels at, and how to compose the solution play into its strengths: What is Fulcrum's real leverage?.