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Missing our coverage of DAC?
Friday, June 19, 1998Paltry funding hurts Web-based electronic design(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/19/98)The electronics industry is in danger of missing the boat on using the Internet to boost design productivity. DAC Facing criticism, NASA admits space station will need more money(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/19/98)NASA acknowledged the continuing cost and schedule problems for the International Space Station in its response to a recent critical audit, but said budget maneuvers could be used to get the delayed program back on track. Thursday, June 18, 1998Micron buys TI's DRAM business(11:20 p.m., EDT, 6/18/98)In one fell swoop, Texas Instruments Inc. has agreed to sell at a loss its worldwide DRAM business to Micron Technology Inc., which expects the deal will make it the world's largest DRAM producer, surpassing Korea's Samsung Electronics. Toshiba and Fujitsu tackle the server market(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/18/98)Two Japanese PC vendors are beefing up their server businesses in hopes of cashing in on a steadily growing market. Toshiba Corp. this week disclosed plans to expand its PC-server business to the United States. And Fujitsu Ltd., the top Japanese server supplier, has strengthened an alliance with Intel Corp. to develop high-end servers based on the Pentium II Xeon microprocessor and the Merced. Semi-formal tools lend a hand to verification(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/18/98)If further proof was needed to demonstrate that logic verification is becoming a major bottleneck in today's design flows, you should have tried to squeeze into two packed technical sessions that addressed formal verification at the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Unix/NT interoperability task force details its work(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/18/98)A Unix/Windows NT interoperability task force, formed by Synopsys Inc. earlier this year, used this week's 35th Design Automation Conference to detail the work being implemented by each company in the group. DAC Engineering enrollment rises after four-year decline(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/18/98)Driven by rising salaries and widely reported work force shortages, enrollment in freshman engineering programs at U.S. colleges and universities for next fall's school year has risen 5.6 percent from last year's levels, reversing a four-year decline. Reporter's Notebook: What you missed at DAC(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/18/98)Here's a tour of the sights, sounds and smells of the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Intel tests next-generation Direct Rambus DRAM from LG, Toshiba(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/18/98)Intel Corp. said it has tested the initial 64- and 72-Mbit Direct Rambus DRAMs from Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo) and found that they meet Intel's speed targets. IBM exec warns of fallout from low engineering enrollments(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/18/98)The United States faces economic difficulties if domestic companies can't find enough workers to fill engineering positions, according to Nick Donofrio, senior vice president of technology and manufacturing for IBM Corp., and this year's chairman of the National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering (NACME). Silicon vendors try resource-saving alternatives(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/18/98)Facing an increasingly difficult market, silicon vendors are turning to any alternative to improve the utilization of their existing resources, and stave off the need for capital investments. This was illustrated yesterday by a joint announcement from library-architecture designer In-Chip Systems, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and the Sony Corp. of Japan. DAC Wednesday, June 17, 1998Taiwan opens another DRAM fab amidst oversupplied market(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Even as South Korea's Samsung Electronics has halted DRAM production for a week, a new DRAM fabrication facility has come online in Taiwan. EDA vendors plan for the nanometer era(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)EDA companies have to produce new tool solutions, improve tool interoperability and devise better Internet solutions for the coming era of nanometer design, according to panelists at the CEO Plenary Panel here at the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Synopsys, Quickturn team to link coverification, emulation(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)A milestone in design verification was reached at the 35th Design Automation Conference as Synopsys Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.) and Quickturn Design Systems Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) set aside their rivalry to combine hardware/software coverification with emulation. They also announced completion of work to link synthesis more closely to emulation. DAC Alpha Processor enters MPU market(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Alpha Processor Inc. (API) officially introduced itself on Tuesday as a company devoted to Digital's Alpha microprocessor and to Alpha-based Windows NT solutions. Motorola, IBM give Mentor's IP strategy a boost(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Mentor Graphics Corp. (Wilsonville, Ore.) is bringing its silicon intellectual property portfolio closer to silicon with the announcement of three major contracts with large semiconductor companies at this week's Design Automation Conference. A contract with Motorola Inc. is said to be the biggest consulting deal in Mentor's history, eclipsing a previous $17 million deal. DAC NT? 'No Thanks,' say pro-Linux rank-and-file(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Linux advocates had their say at a raucous "Linux vs. NT" public forum at the 35th Design Automation Conference here. The strongly pro-Linux audience revealed a sharp disconnection between rank-and-file engineers and their own corporate CAD managers. DAC Hardware/software codesign remains elusive(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)The Design Automation Conference dispatched a panel to probe the mysteries of hardware/software codesign yesterday afternoon, but came up with more questions than answers, even from the vendors. DAC Grenoble startup preps system-level design tools(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Hardware/software codesign tools that use the telecom arena's system-design language are being developed by Arexsys (Grenoble, France). The tools leverage leading French research into high-level architectural modeling and synthesis. DAC High-level analog tools for digital designers are still a dream(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/17/98)The paucity of good high-level simulation and synthesis tools for analog blocks in mixed-signal designs continues to plague the legions of digital designers who want to learn a bit of analog techniques for mixed-signal systems, participants agreed at an analog design panel at the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Formalized Design makes big claims for secret technology(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Formalized Design Inc., a startup in the formal verification area with research bases in Paris and Chandler, Ariz., has hit the ground running with three separate tools already available. DAC Metric measures complexity of a design task(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Ron Collett, president of consulting firm Collett International, introduced a design productivity management system this week at the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Mentor launches three-pronged design-reuse campaign(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Stating that it is aggressively attacking the challenges of design reuse, Mentor Graphics Corp. has unveiled a campaign to help customers better handle and integrate IP. The effort includes greater participation in open standards, an entry into a core alliance with IBM and the introduction of core-friendly versions of its Renoir ESDA tool and ModelSim simulator. The company announced its plans at the 35th Design Automation Conference (DAC). DAC VSI readies some plugs for wide system-chip holes(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Members of the Virtual Socket Interface (VSI) alliance announced new members and tipped a few details of their plans for rolling out additional guidelines and specifications this year to serve the many gaping holes that still lay along the route to developing a full-blown system-on-a-chip design methodology. DAC Synopsys and Mentor cross-license tools for test purposes(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Synopsys Inc. and Mentor Graphics Corp. have agreed to cross-license each other's entire EDA tool sets in order to test them and make sure they work together well in design flows. DAC Duet brings OPC to libraries(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)An agreement between Duet Technologies Inc. and Numerical Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) brings phase-shift mask (PSM) technology to deep-submicron libraries, possibly alleviating the need for optical proximity-correction (OPC) tools. Duet and Numerical have agreed to develop PSM-enhanced physical libraries with feature sizes at or below 0.25 microns. DAC Analogy, Microcosm partner on MEMS modeling(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Two modeling companies, Analogy Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.) and Microcosm (Raleigh, N.C.), will partner on a model generator for micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS). The companies said their jointly-developed AutoMM/Saber product, which was announced at the 35th Design Automation Conference, will be the first to bridge the gap between mechanical design automation and electronic design automation. DAC Fujitsu builds formal verification tool(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/17/98)Fujitsu Laboratories of America has developed a formal equivalency checker and is looking for business partners to help market it. The tool, Assure, is being featured this week at Fujitsu's booth at the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Tuesday, June 16, 1998Lovell rivets EDAC awards presentation(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/16/98)Stories of inspiration and courage were heard on two fronts at an Electronic Design Automation Companies (EDAC) awards luncheon at the Design Automation Conference on Monday. Retired Navy Capt. James Lovell gave a first-person account of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, while designers from Acuson Corp. won a Design Achievement Award for a ground-breaking medical electronics system. DAC ARM goes soft on RISC cores(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/16/98)ARM Ltd., a pioneer of the IP core market as a licensor of 32-bit RISC microprocessor cores, has developed a synthesizable version of its ARM7 core. DAC Altera opens IP unit(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/16/98)Altera Corp. has created a new Intellectual Property (IP) Business Unit that will have comprehensive responsibility for marketing, applications, product planning and management of the Altera Megafunction Partner Program (AMPP) and Mega Core development functions. DAC Virtual reality replaces therapist's couch(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/16/98)Virtual reality is gaining some practical application in the psychological treatment of phobia victims. Researchers at Virtually Better Inc. and Emory University plan to treat phobics with a therapeutic VR program in which an "online shrink" leads them into a controlled VR environment where they can safely experience what they fear and thereby defuse the problem. The first phobia to be treated is fear of flying. Light pipe brightens portable LCD screens(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/16/98)There's a great deal of development activity in progress on improving the performance of the cold-cathode fluorescent tube (CCFT), the "linear" light source of choice for LCDs used in notebook computers. At least one company, Clio Technologies, based here, has been addressing the enhancement of backlighting from the "pointlike" light sources frequently used for smaller LCDs — typically LEDs and small incandescent lamps. Spencer says productivity improvements will wane without industry attention(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/16/98)The march of progress in electronics will slow to a crawl unless industry, government and universities work together to improve design productivity, the chairman of Sematech, William Spencer, said in a keynote address today at the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Interface would let Net users surfboard through cyberspace(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/16/98)Researchers at NTT Human Interface Laboratories here have devised a novel method akin to a surfboard for navigating cyberspace. The system addresses the need for a natural way to animate personal "avatars" — animated stand-ins for a Net surfer — that have become a popular means of interacting over the World Wide Web. Military night-vision technology considered for nighttime driving(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/16/98)While night-vision systems are usually associated with covert military operations, a joint development team is looking at the technology as a lifesaver in the more conventional circumstances of nighttime driving. OLA gets a plug from Cadence(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/16/98)The ASIC Council's Open Library API (OLA) solution received two expected and one unexpected endorsement at a demonstration of OLA held at the 35th Design Automation Conference this week. DAC Monday, June 15, 1998Nortel and Bay merge in $9.1 billion stock transaction(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Consolidation in the networking industry continued with Nortel's announcement Monday that it will acquire Bay Networks in a $9.1 billion all-stock transaction—the largest deal to date unifying telecommunication and data-network-system providers. EDA hits a 0.25-micron wall(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)The EDA industry has reached a critical juncture because it hasn't produced the tools needed for 0.25-micron designs, according to Gary Smith, chief EDA analyst for Dataquest Inc. (San Jose, Calif.). Speaking at the market research firm's annual briefing prior to the start of the Design Automation Conference (DAC), Smith said the lack of tools is causing severe challenges for semiconductor vendors. DAC Women execs urged to take risks in EDA careers(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)A packed room of female engineers was told that taking risks and not worrying about change was the only way to break the corporate glass ceiling. DAC Optem creates 3D 'Inspector'(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Optem Engineering has added full 3-D interconnect and substrate extraction to Inspector, its deep-submicron extraction tool. The company is also claiming new circuit-reduction techniques that reduce the size and complexity of the models Inspector generates. DAC PCs drive Eastern Europe's chip market(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Central and Eastern Europe made up roughtly 16 percent of Europe's $30 billion semiconductor market in 1997, according to a recent report by The Gartner Group's Dataquest Inc. market-research unit. The report is Dataquest's first comprehensive look at the market since it was opened to international trade in 1991 with the collapse of Communism. DSP core vendor adds JPEG encoders, opens U.S. office(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Integrated Silicon Systems Ltd. (ISS, Belfast, Northern Ireland) has developed a set of JPEG encoder cores that can operate at image-processing rates in excess of 27 megapixels per second, with application-specific features aimed at securitycamera systems and remote sensing, as well as general imaging. DAC Aristo signs block partners(6:00 p.m., EDT, 6/15/98)To bolster its new "block-level" design tools, EDA startup Aristo Technology Inc. has signed partnerships with four EDA and intellectual-property vendors. Aristo is seeking alliances with companies involved in building the blocks that Aristo's tools will assemble. DAC EDA renaissance blooms at DAC(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)An unprecedented explosion of new technologies and companies is poised to make its impact on attendees at this week's Design Automation Conference (DAC). Revitalized by the system-on-a-chip design crisis, the EDA industry is playing every angle to bring desperately needed technology to market. DAC EDTN network adds D&R's virtual component directory(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Design & Reuse SARL (D&R) has become a partner of the Electronics Design, Technology and News (EDTN) online network, and will make its searchable online catalog of virtual components available through EDTN's Web site, according to an announcement planned for the 35th Design Automation Conference. DAC Sycon rolls custom IC tools(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Promising to automate some of the most challenging aspects of custom chip design, startup Sycon Design Inc. is announcing its first products at the Design Automation Conference. The company said it is a unique approach with technology that performs routing before placement. DAC OrCAD adds Exemplar synthesis to Express environment(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)OrCAD Inc. and Exemplar Logic Inc. have joined hands in a deal whereby OrCAD will integrate the synthesis engine from Exemplar's Leonardo Spectrum tool into an October upgrade of the OrCAD Express design environment. The companies will announce their partnership this week at the Design Automation Conference here. DAC Prototype now supports Altera architecture(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Prototype Solutions, a provider of rapid-prototyping hardware, has announced the availability of Altera Flex 10K component cards as an option for the Standin SX Rapid Prototyping System family. The cards will let users familiar with the Altera architecture prototype dense ASIC and system designs. DAC QuestLink establishes online EDA index(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)QuestLink Technology, a provider of online technical information, has announced an EDA Index that provides a listing of companies and products. The index can be accessed without charge at the company's Web site. DAC OEA's tools get speed, accuracy upgrade(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Armed with a new 3-D field solver that claims unprecedented speed and accuracy, OEA International Inc. this week will announce upgrades to its Cell-An Spice extraction and Net-An net-simulation tools. The company has also extensively revised its Spiral inductor design tool. DAC CAD-to-CAM interface gains major backers(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)A standard linking CAD to CAM for improved pc-board manufacturability is nearing reality. On the eve of the Design Automation Conference this week, backers said their electronic CAD-to-CAM exchange (Ecce) standard has gained major support from leaders in both industries. DAC ASIC Council ready to demo Open Library API(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)The ASIC Council is hosting a breakfast meeting at the Design Automation Conference on Monday to demonstrate its Open Library API (OLA). The application-programming-interface demo promises to show timing-analysis, synthesis, simulation and design-for-test tools from different companies working from common compiled libraries. DAC Avant!'s shape-based router features full-chip editing abilities(11:00 a.m., EDT, 6/15/98)Avant! Corp. (Fremont, Calif.) is heading to the Design Automation Conference this week with a slew of significant products, including the new Columbia shape-based router for IC design; the Mars-Xtalk up-front analysis tool to drive Apollo place and route; the Taurus-OPC system for up-front optical proximity correction; the Taurus-Process and Taurus Device 3-D TCAD simulation tools; and the upgraded Star-Hspice, boasting new multithreading capabilities that improve simulation speeds by 300 percent over the previous version of the tool. DAC Friday, June 12, 1998FTC extends Intel antitrust probe to PC chip sets(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)As it prepares to present its antitrust case against Intel Corp. to an administrative law judge, the Federal Trade Commission continues to pursue a broader investigation of Intel's chip-design and licensing procedures that could have far greater implications for the PC industry. Tektronix gives oscilloscopes a fresh twist(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)In a major retooling of the venerable oscilloscope, Tektronix Inc. has come up with a new breed of scope that can display, store and analyze fast, complex signals in real-time. Tek's digital phosphor oscilloscope (DPO) is built around a novel circuit that uses three dimensions of signal information: amplitude, time and the distribution of amplitude over time. The result is analogous to the chemical phosphorescence effect of an analog real-time display, in which the decay of signal energy creates a gray scale that reveals information about how a signal changes with respect to time. On-chip busses become drivers of ASIC design(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)In announcing a $100 million investment in ASIC processes, cores and even mask capacity, IBM Microelectronics served notice of its intentions in the system-level custom chip arena. The computer giant claimed a two- to three-year lead over the rest of the ASIC industry in manufacturable chip density and a major advantage in the scope of its core library. IBM prepares ASIC core clone of TI DSP(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)IBM will target cellular-phone makers with a new ASIC core that is a clone of the Texas Instruments TMS320C54X. "Some IBM ASIC customers have experience marrying microprocessors and DSPs on the same chip," said Pat Brennan, senior member of the technical staff at IBM's ASIC Core Development Group. "One of their products will likely be a 3-oz. phone." Shenzhen STS Microelectronics inaugurates design and test facility(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)A four-year-old joint venture between STMicroelectronics and and Shenzhen Electronics Group unveiled its new custom design and assembly and test facility in Shenzhen, China on Friday. Gambit tool automatically removes antenna violations(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)The Attenuator, a tool that automatically identifies and removes antennas, has been announced by Gambit Automated Design Inc. The company also introduced its next-generation floor planner, called Forecast. DAC Nu Thena adds cosimulation and library support to Foresight(11:45 p.m., EDT, 6/12/98)Nu Thena Systems Inc. is taking a more aggressive position in hardware/software codesign with Foresight Co-Design, a new offering that's a superset of the company's flagship Foresight product. Nu Thena is also announcing an OEM resale agreement with Mentor Graphics Corp. for Foresight Co-Design. DAC |
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