Silicon debug of systems-on-chips [session introduction]

Abstract

Organizer & Moderator Erik Jan Marinissen -Philips Research (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) co-organized in cooperation with IEEE's Design & Test of ComputersModern semiconductor process technologies, advanced design tools, and the reinvented reuse paradigm enable the design of very complex ICs. Some call these ICs 'system-on-chip', referring to the fact that their functionality could until recently only be implemented by one or several PCBs filled with ICs. While it was always difficult to locate design errors, guaranteeing that a deep sub-micron 'system-on-chip' is design error free is a real challenge. Floating specifications, growing geographicallyspread design teams, time-to-market pressure, and the increasing distance of IC designers to actual silicon all make it likely that 'buggy' hardware will become as common as 'buggy' software.Of course our industry does whatever is possible within given time and money budgets to prevent design errors before first silicon. Hereto techniques as simulation, emulation, and formal verification are used. However, all these techniques only deal with models of the IC, which do not take into account all effects that might occur on real silicon, and high computational costs often prevent exhaustive error coverage. In order to find design errors before the customer does, debug of actual silicon samples is inevitable.This Hot Topic session provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in physical and electrical silicon debug. The speakers address techniques currently in use, their applications and their limitations, and the research challenges for the future. (EJM)

Onderzoeksbalans archeologie in Vlaanderen Versie 1, 11/12/2008: Romeinse tijd

“…Meer oostwaarts is heel wat minder duidelijk of de daar nog aangetroffen crematies vermengd met brandstapelresten ook tot deze groep kunnen gerekend worden. Van Doorselaer spreekt van een fenomeen dat vrij kenmerkend zou zijn voor het Menapisch gebied, onder meer de Scheldevallei 1023 , en het valt inderdaad niet te ontkennen dat het type in dit gebied duidelijk overweegt. Het is evenwel niet onbekend in de civitas Nerviorum en ook in de civitas Tungrorum treft men zgn.…”