Formal Techniques for Protocol Verification: A Case Study On Verifying the ARM ACE Protocol

By Rajeev Ranjan, January 11, 2012

More processors on SoCs means more sophisticated cache control. This article describes formal techniques for verifying cache coherency for the ARM AMBA AXI Coherency Extensions (ACE) protocol.

Viable Mass Electric Transportation Needs A Systems Approach

By Kevin Parmenter, June 01, 2011

Reflections on the infrastructure that will be needed to support widespread electric vehicle charging, especially integrtion with the Smart Grid.

DDR2 And DDR3 Memory Systems Require New Power And Termination Solutions

By Kevin Parmenter, March 10, 2011

Review of the power-distribution design challenges of DDR3 Memory.

Manage Network Traffic In Your 100-Gbit/s Designs

By Per Lembre, March 07, 2011

By taking advantage of the latest programmable packet-processing devices with integrated traffic managers, designers can create cost-effective Carrier Ethernet platforms.

EDA’s Transformation Will Lift It Out Of The Recession

By Laurie Balch, December 21, 2010

Growth returned to the EDA market in 2010 and should continue for the next several years. But the EDA industry must hasten to reinvent itself by increasing its ties to the software and mechanical-design domains.E

Embedded Software Drives Economic Growth

By Michael Barr, December 08, 2010

Michael Barr highlights why embedded software will grow the embedded market in 2011.

What can be expected from the Accellera Unified Coverage Interoperability Standard?

By Richard Ho, Rajeev Ranjan, Mike Burns, Ambar Sarkar, October 22, 2010

A pain point for verification engineers is verification closure and the need for metrics that can reliably predict design quality as well as the degree of confidence in the verification process. Accellera's Unified Coverage Interoperability Standard (UCIS) committee has been tasked with developing answers to these questions. This article sheds light on the committee's thinking and progress.

Move Your Thermal Strategy For Air-Cooled Electronics Up In The Design Flow

By John Parry, August 29, 2010

Follow the “golden rules” for thermal design, and the resultant system should perform better, run cooler, and last longer in the field.

Efficient Tool Sizes High-Current PCB Traces

By Paul Schimel, August 06, 2010

IR's Paul Schimel offers advice on sizing PCB traces for high currents based on reference data for copper wire.

Solar PV Systems: Will Micro-Converters Help Make Them Pay Their Way?

By Paul Engle, August 04, 2010

One of the most commonly asked questions about grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system concerns how long it takes to get investment payback and how much the system is likely to save during its working life

You Can’t Have The Smart Grid Without Smart Meters

By Kourosh Boutorabi, June 10, 2010

Teridian's Kouroush Boutorabi describes the design of smart-meter ICs.

The Holy Grail of Unified Coverage: What’s the Reality?

By Rajeev Ranjan, May 19, 2010

Though Accellera's Unified Coverage Interoperability Standard has made strides, the dream of unified coverage metrics spanning both formal verification and simulation remains unfulfilled. Jasper's Rajeev Ranjan cuts through the hype in this Viewpoint.

Ode to the Chip Synthesis Hero

By Sanjiv Kaul, May 19, 2010

Want to be a Chip Synthesis Hero? In this whimsical take on full-chip logic synthesis, Oasys Design Systems' Sanjiv Kaul explains how today's high-capacity synthesis tools can make short work of very large designs and do them right the first time.

Match Your Architecture To Your Application

By Håkan Zeffer, May 19, 2010

The generic multicore architecture and the special-purpose dataflow architecture both have their unique advantages. Investigate each option before choosing one, or both, for your next switch or router design.

Before You Make That Deal, Ensure Your Brand Is In The Right Hands

By Simon O’Keeffe, May 17, 2010

Prepare Your Counterattack Against Counterfeit Parts

By Paul Romano, May 17, 2010

Achieve Connector Innovation Via Materials And Manufacturing

By Lee Wolfel, May 12, 2010

Regardless of the type of connector, application, or necessary specifications, materials and manufacturing processes play key roles in the connector’s performance within a given application.

Consumer Attitudes Will Shape The Smart Grid’s Success

By Michael Ballard, May 12, 2010

Microchip's Michael Ballard asseses consumer response as an element in the success of the smart grid.

Graphical Code Generators: Pair The Best GUI To The Lowest-Cost Hardware

By Mike Juran, May 11, 2010

Graphical code generators can create great optimized GUIs for embedded hardware.

The Web And IP Drive Embedded Processor Trends

By Shane Rau, May 10, 2010

Over the next five years, the volume of embedded processors will double as more devices connect to the Internet running multiple applications. Vendors will need to invest in their ecosystem and IP to deliver multicore solutions.