By Ed Sperling
Synopsys expanded its DesignWare MIPI IP portfolio with support for a handful of new PHY protocols. The trend is an interesting one—big IP companies adding lots of support and configurability, making it far harder for small IP companies to keep pace.
In a similar vein, MIPS joined the MIPI alliance to support standard interfaces for mobile handsets.
SMIC adopted Cadence’s DFM and low-power silicon realization technology for its 65nm reference flow. The silicon realization technology includes a slew of different tools. Across the East China Sea, Fujitsu is supporting Cadence’s C-to-Silicon compiler for high-level synthesis.
Mobileye, which makes camera-based driver assistance systems, is using Arteris’ network on chip IP for its next-gen EyeQ SoCs. This stuff is really cool.
TSMC said its net sales for November dropped 4.4% from October, but before you hit the panic button that’s still up 21.7% from November 2009. One month does not make a trend even though it can cause sleep deprivation.
On the big picture side—literally—AMD, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, Samsung, and LG all said they would phase out analog display technology and move entirely to scalable and lower-power digital interfaces. That spells the end for VGA and LVDS panel interfaces. It might be time to trade in that old monitor.