Article Abstract:
The increasing complexity of integrated circuit designs has made software more important than hardware in silicon electronic engineering. Minimum IC feature sizes will drop below 0.1 micron in coming years, and more than a billion transistors will be placed on a single chip, most on-chip memory devices. When hardware, software and mechanical designers come together they will be able to create unique systems and architectures. The EDA Industry Council's System Level Description Language (SLDL) Group supports the description of systems that can be realized in hardware and software, and some languages that can describe mechanical systems. SLDLs require tools that transform system specifications into functioning equivalents that are practical from a manufacturing perspective. Co-design tools are designed to support concurrent design and modeling of the electronic hardware, software and mechanical components of systems. The Virtual Processor Model simulates software at speeds faster than 150 MIPS and maintains timing and architectural accuracy.
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Article Abstract:
'Defensive design' of high-speed ICs can reduce the number of variables in the design process and lead to more reliable results in hardware. Signal integrity and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) can be maintained by ensuring that signals arrive at their destinations in good form and without transmitting or receiving unwanted signals within the board and from the board out. Field solvers are software that computes spacial and temporal distributions of electric and magnetic fields in a system, such as an antenna, based on its structure, geometry and materials. Field solvers for printed circuit boards (PCB) calculate capacitance and self- and mutual-inductance of conductor tracks to derive characteristic impedance, inter-track coupling, delay and other track parameters. Relying on track-configuration analysis limits the accuracy of field solvers, however.
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Article Abstract:
The fastest integrated circuits are constructed using niobium, which is a superconducting metal, and the technology relies on Josephson junction devices. A logic called rapid single flux (RSFQ) is used, which involves transmission of quanta of magnetic flux via superconducting interconnects. RSFQ performance can function at clock frequencies beyond 100GHz. Various applications are possible, such as high-speed, high-accuracy analog-to-digital conversions.
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