It’s been a LOOONNNNNNGGG Time!

Wow…I can’t believe that so much time has passed since I was actively posting to this blog.  I had a lot to say on this topic when I was writing feverishly about this topic of semiconductor workflows.  In many ways, since I was writing on this topic, I have transitioned quite actively from semiconductor design, into the IoT arena and more centrally focused on software-focused microservices.  However, to my disappointment, and  from what I can tell, not much has changed in the world of semiconductor design in the last 5 years.

Today, a lot of what we hear about in software design and emerging technologies is Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, and IoT applications across all sectors.  I personally find each of these trends in software engineering extremely intriguing, and as an old school chip designer, I invariably find myself thinking about why the semiconductor industry continues to find itself stuck on an island of stagnation surrounding some of these extremely exciting trends.

Based solely upon the exhobidant cost of manufacturing semiconductors, designing an integrated circuit according to some “probable” outcome is an extremely risky venture.  Perhaps there is no applicability for AI or ML in what is a precise and structured process for hardware design.  At the very least, Intelligent Automation (IA) may be an area where further design process workfow enhancements could be forthcoming.

Clearly, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software falls into a category of IA that extends later into the chip design workflow, than the early specification & design phases.

More to come…