Articles – Page 213

July 16, 2013

For most of the history of FPGAs, the mental model of marketers has been “ASIC replacement,” since FPGAs were designed in the same way as ASICs, and since many applications that would previously have required a custom ASIC could now be done with an FPGA. For many generations, this was the underlying assumption of FPGA evolution – we are trying to replace ASICs.

Every two years – FPGA companies would announce their new families based on the latest process node with great fanfare. “This time,” they would say, “we have devices that truly are ASIC … Read More → "Sheep’s Clothing"

New Spin on a Gyro

Qualtré Taps BAW Technology

by Bryon Moyer

July 15, 2013

Patents seem to have different effects in different industries. In the IC business, the history is rife with big companies having fundamental patents that are hard to get around. At some point sabers rattle and lawyers convene, and, pretty soon, a cross-licensing agreement happens so that pretty much everyone can make everything. (Yes, there are counter-examples, like the Xilinx Freeman patent, which stymied a lot of FPGA development until it expired.)

In the internet space, absurd patents have been filed. “Oh!! A button shaped like a star!! Let’s patent that quick!” There have been a few … Read More → "New Spin on a Gyro"

A Tiny Pocket of Space

The Science of a Miniscule Sample

by Bryon Moyer

July 11, 2013

Verification is the science (and art) of asking the question, “What could possibly go wrong?”

If you’ve done a good job – you think – then you would expect that the answer would be, well, not very many things. If you start musing a bit harder, you might come up with some scenarios you hadn’t initially thought of. And, depressingly, the more you think about it, the more problems you can probably come up with.

It’s one thing to identify all the things that could go right or wrong in a design; it’s … Read More → "A Tiny Pocket of Space"

Alternative Research

Drugs and Electronics in Grenoble

by Dick Selwood

July 10, 2013

Strange how things in life come together. Two weeks ago I was listening to a presentation about medical technology and microelectronics, and one of the issues that microelectronics could help solve is the delivery of drugs only to the area affected – for example, delivering directly to a tumour rather than the rest of the body. Seven days later I was flattened by the side affects of an antibiotic. I had taken it to treat a relatively small area of infection in the gut, and, as well as treating the gut, the antibiotic was hammering my whole system.

… Read More → "Alternative Research"

Weighing UltraScale

Xilinx Announces New Architecture

by Kevin Morris

July 9, 2013

In the ongoing marketing battle to see who can out-confuse the competition, Xilinx has just fired an impressive salvo. Strapped safely into the cockpit of a superlative-laden press release is an announcement of what the company is calling the “UltraScale” architecture. We would say “new FPGA architecture,” but apparently it isn’t cool to make FPGAs any more. You see, Xilinx is now in the “All Programmable” device business.

Xilinx and archrival Altera have been waging a war of words lately. But, before we whip out the hypesaw and try to slog our … Read More → "Weighing UltraScale"

ECO Systems

When You Need to Make That One Last Tweak

by Bryon Moyer

July 8, 2013

“OK people, let’s do this. I called this meeting because we have a problem. I know, you might think that tales of what goes on here might not make it out to the golf course and into my ear, but I hear things, OK? And sometimes I don’t like what I hear.

“Lately I hear that your designs have been delayed because you keep finding things to change at the last minute. That tells me you’re being sloppy. If you did your verification right up front, you shouldn’t need last-minute changes, right? Am … Read More → "ECO Systems"

We’re the People’s Front of Judea!

Religion Intrudes on Microprocessor Design

by Jim Turley

July 3, 2013

Is it better to remain philosophically pure, or to tolerate outsiders in your midst? That’s the question posed by noted computer scientist David May in a recent talk on computer architecture.

May, who holds the dual roles of professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol (England) and CTO of microprocessor firm XMOS, recently gave a talk entitled, “Heterogeneous Processors: Why?” Simultaneously blunt and obscure, the title refers to mixing two or more processor architectures on a single chip, or in a single system. (“Heterogeneous” being the currently trendy word among computer weenies for “different.”) … Read More → "We’re the People’s Front of Judea!"

The Artist and the Engineer

by Kevin Morris

July 2, 2013

My wife is an artist. I am an engineer.

She walks into a room full of abstract paintings and can immediately say, “I like that one and that one and that one – none of the rest.”

I walk into that same room and don’t know what to say. I haven’t got a reason for liking or disliking any of them yet.

Sometime, much later, after analyzing and thinking about them all and worrying that this one has too much orange and that one … Read More → "The Artist and the Engineer"

A Better Measure of Your Breath

A Breathalyzer With Two Sensors

by Bryon Moyer

July 1, 2013

“I’m totally fine to drive.”

You’ve heard that before… You’ve probably said that before. I know I have. And, for the most part, I’ve been right. Or so I think. If I’m honest, well, I don’t really know. I know I’ve felt OK to drive in that I didn’t feel incapacitated, but I don’t know if I was legally OK. To be clear, those are two different things – and, at least in California (and, I suspect, other states too), they can result in two … Read More → "A Better Measure of Your Breath"

Formal in the Cloud

OneSpin’s New Spin on Cloud Computing

by Bryon Moyer

June 27, 2013

The cloud is the future of everything, they say. You won’t need a computer anymore, they say. Just a phone and ubiquitous connectivity are all you need, they say (you never, ever lose your connection, do you?).

While it hasn’t completely turned our lives upside down yet, yes, the cloud has worked its way into more and more things. And we’ve seen it tip-toe into the world of EDA, although it’s not clear that it’s really sticking so far, … Read More → "Formal in the Cloud"