Video: UMC outlines foundry trends
At the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim, Calif., Mark LaPedus, semiconductor editor from EE Times, caught up with Lee Chung, vice president of the corporate marketing division at Taiwan foundry provider United Microelectronics Corp.

Mobile growth: 'Exponential curve' or Dead Man's Curve?
The top five threats to wireless growth identified by panelists at the Design Automation Conference ranged from regulatory issues to mobile phone users, complexity of software concurrency and verification of mobile chips.

EDA still software-challenged
For the third consecutive year, Gary Smith, founder and chief analyst for Gary Smith EDA, emphasized at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) that embedded software development is the biggest challenge in system-on-chip design.

Saucy algorithm exploits symmetries
The developers of an algorithm called "Saucy" claim it can solve such problems quickly by finding symmetries among large swaths of possibilities.

Can compute-farms solve the parallel programming problem?
Because of the large nature that EDA represents, EDA vendors are some of the pioneers of using compute-farms. This raises a question on the probability that these help make progress in the general parallel programming problem. A second question is whether startups, without legacy code to worry about, can optimize their software for these compute-farms.

Energy-scavenging cellphones: Don't hold your breath
Will we see the energy-scavenging cellphone? Semiconductor and cellphone experts like Sanjay Jha, chief operationg officer at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, were almost dumbfounded at the suggestion.

Can compute-farms solve the parallel programming problem?
Because of the large nature that EDA represents, EDA vendors are some of the pioneers of using compute-farms. This raises a question on the probability that these help make progress in the general parallel programming problem. A second question is whether startups, without legacy code to worry about, can optimize their software for these compute-farms.

Tensilica reinforces support to Open Virtual Platform
Tensilica Inc., has concluded a partnership with Imperas Ltd., a young company developing multiprocessing development tools, so that the functional, instruction accurate models of its Xtensa and Diamond Standard processors can run on Open Virtual Platform based virtual platforms.

Engineers' pay in India growing fast; China, not so much
Representatives from India and China, at the Design Automation Conference in Anaheim, offered a snapshot of salary growth for high-tech jobs in India, the outsourcing picture, and the problem of protecting intellectual property rights in China.

Mentor forms design-to-silicon unit
Seeking to drive the integration of its three platforms, Mentor Graphics Corp. has merged several offerings into a single design-to-silicon division.

Intel CTO rethinks analog as computational problem
One phrase defines Intel's Justin Rattner: "Think, but rethink".

Analog design, 'green' tech dominate DAC
Analog design is proving to be a hot topic at this year's Design Automation Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

TI buys analog design house
Expanding its analog portfolio, Texas Instruments Inc. has acquired Innovative Design Solutions Inc. for an undisclosed price.

Leading edge developments face old problems
The problem faced by leading edge development teams are often simular to those faced many years before.

EDA vendor reference charts
2008 WallCharts by Gary Smith identify EDA vendors by market segment.

Video: Synopsys CEO de Geus talks EDA, DFM
At the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim, Calif., Mark LaPedus, semiconductor editor from EE Times, caught up with Aart de Geus, chief executive and chairman of Synopsys Inc.

High-tech will relieve energy crisis--some day
Gas prices, clean energy, immigration restrictions on foreign engineers and legislation to fund high-tech research dominated a panel discussion of election-year politics and its intersection with technology at the Design Automation Conference in Anaheim.

DAC panel: 'Green' energy design good for economy
Three industry representatives participating in the Climate Savers Computing Initiative told the Design Automation Conference that "green" technology is good for the economy as well as environment.

Video: Virage's McCranie says IP is alive and well
At the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim, Calif., Mark LaPedus, semiconductor editor from EE Times, caught up with Daniel McCranie, president, chief executive and chairman of Virage Logic Corp.

Video: Mentor's Rhines talks shop
At the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim, Calif., Mark LaPedus, semiconductor editor from EE Times, caught up with Walden Rhines, Mentor Graphics Corp.'s chairman and CEO.

Synopsys changes multicore licensing support
With the advent of multicore processors, Steve Smith, senior director of product platform marketing at Synopsys, Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), said current licensing models are inadequate and called for a different licensing approach.

UMC, Extreme DA team on statistical timing
Silicon foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and EDA startup Extreme DA Corp. announced they have entered into a collaboration to provide sub-65-nanometer variation aware IC design flows at the Design Automation Conference here.

Resonant-clocked design tools target ARM core
Cyclos Semiconductor, Inc. announced a proof-of-concept processor implementation using its platform and standard-cell design flow.

Target retargets, gains design wins
Target Compiler Technologies, a design tools spinoff of Belgian research institute IMEC that has shifted its focus to application-specific processors (ASIPs), announced several design wins at the Design Automation Conference.

UMC, Extreme DA team on statistical timing
Silicon foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and EDA startup Extreme DA Corp. announced they have entered into a collaboration to provide sub-65-nanometer variation aware IC design flows at the Design Automation Conference here.

Chartered takes stake in design firm
Expanding its offerings, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. has made an investment in Socle Technology Corp., a Taiwan-based design services company.

Helic launches tool for bondwire design
Greek EDA company Helic SA (Athens, Greece) is launching a bondwire layout and inductance modeling tool called VeloceWired.

DAC targets 45-nm design
A special Management Day session during the upcoming Design Automation Conference will again tackle the toughest chip design issues using 45-nm process technology.