February 2020
Trust, but verify. How to catch peanut butter engineering before it spreads into your system — Part 1: Validation.
I will address this topic with two blog posts: validation (i.e. post silicon) -- Part 1, and verification (pre-silicon) -- Part 2. In this blog post, I will focus on validation. One of the upsides of using catalog chips that have been in the market for a long time and have ramped in substantial volumes is that other system companies...
How to keep your leverage while single sourcing custom system silicon
It can be a high wire walk to be able to keep your leverage in negotiating with a chip supplier while also committing to be single sourced on a custom silicon component. In an ideal world, one could have multiple sources for a custom chip. But in reality the engineering team’s time is a highly priced asset for your...
January 2020
5 things you need to plan for custom system silicon
Custom silicon can be the right solution for your system for a lot of different reasons, but whatever they may be in your case, there are some basic steps that should always be taken to start on the path towards a successful custom silicon project. Here are five basic steps: 1. Decide where to integrate each type of circuit. By ‘where’...