EDA Alert: January 8, 2008

In an effort to further improve the Open Core Protocol's (OCP's) ability to speed IP integration, the OCP International Partnership has opened its new debug specification to member review. The specification details an approach to a standardized OCP bus-compliant debug interface.

In Version 5 of the DesignWorks Professional schematic capture package for Windows-based computers, users will find new schematic-drawing features like graphic drawing tools and direct PDF export. Further, a powerful scripting capability has been added for advanced users and OEMs that wish to customize the package for a variety of diagramming applications.

IC and custom-ASIC manufacturer iC-Haus GmbH has switched to Synopsys' HSIM-XA mixed-signal simulator to simulate their zero-defect mixed-signal chips.

I can hear some of you asking the question already: "VHDL" That's still around?" For those coming to VHDL for the first time, it might not be the best starting place. But for those users who are already familiar with the language, this is an ideal source for "the new stuff" in VHDL-2008.

Undertaking the design of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) is complex enough on its own merits. As is ever more the case, when power consumption is the primary design constraint, it becomes a task of enormous difficulty. This book is thoroughly recommended to anyone embarking on a low-power SoC project.

• Reduced power consumption is our number-one goal.
• Power efficiency is one of our key goals.
• We trim power where we can, but not at the expense of other specifications.
• Power efficiency isn't a concern at all.