“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” Imagine a leader in the semiconductor world, applying Ford’s idea and stating that you can have any 28 nm technology so long as it’s…28 nm. Today, there are about eight different versions of 32/28 nm technology being promoted, not only is it a challenge figuring out which one to use, but then making sure the technology model created by the foundry is an accurate representation of the process.

The process engineers in the foundry need to figure out an extraction technique for obtaining a set of optimal model parameters for BSIM. This is usually achieved through a semi-manual fitting process using many current-voltage measurements. One of the critical models is the output conduction of the MOSFET. The output conduction has become worse with each process generation, a good analog CMOS circuit designer can cope with this as long as there is an accurate model. However, this parameter is very hard to model accurately – many measurements of different transistor aspect ratios need to be taken. It’s a double whammy.  With the number of different types of 28 nm, this is becoming a challenging and an expensive bottle-neck for the foundries. 

Ford’s genius was that he addressed the problem of the Model T assembly line bottle-neck by offering only the fastest drying paint. Black. Ultimately, what the analog CMOS analog circuit designer cares most about, regardless of the actual performance of the  technology, is the accuracy of the model.

The HDMI 1.4 specification was announced in June 2009 and contained many important capabilities that have further revolutionized multimedia devices. While HDMI 1.3 made significant improvements by doubling the data rate, providing up to 2.8 trillion colors, lossless audio formats, 120 Hz frame rates and 1440p resolution modes, HDMI 1.4 has further added some subtle but highly innovative features that reinforced consumers’ perception that HDMI equates to simplicity, reliability and performance.  The key features added in HDMI 1.4 included: 1) HEAC, 2) 3D modes, 3) 4K resolution, 4) real time content recognition & 5) additional color space for digital still cameras. Synopsys is one of the very few companies to support ALL of the HDMI 1.4 features including the HDMI Ethernet and Audio Return Channel (HEAC). 

If you talk to analysts they will say that 3D TV is the next big wave in consumer electronic market. CES 2010 was dominated by 3D TVs. Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi will be releasing their 1^st models of 3D TVs later this year. Likewise content providers have begun talking about 3D content for kids. Next generation game consoles will definitely incorporate 3D capabilities. Synopsys’ announcement of HDMI 1.4 cores will help expedite the adoption of the 3D into the digital home theatre appliances.

HDMI will enjoy a 33% CAGR in the portable multimedia (camcorders, still cameras, PMPs) devices. Low power is the key to succeed in this market. Our HDMI 1.4 TX PHY core features sub 50mW power for such applications. Furthermore our HDMI IP comes with ATC reports, test results from plug fest events and with complete system validation on a HAPS-51 based platform.

There are conflicting opinions in the market about how far can HDMI evolve. Has it reached its saturation in terms of bandwidth, color formats & other features? Is law of diminishing returns kicking in? Most customers are still trying to get a good handle on the HEAC feature. Regardless, 3 out 4 customers in the digital home arena are seriously looking into incorporating 1.4 features into their next generation SOCs/systems.

Synopsys’ HDMI 1.4 cores will incorporate HEAC block to support bi-direction transfer of IP packets and audio packets, hence simplifying the home theatre system by eliminating additional connectors, wires and dongle cards on each appliance to connect to Ethernet/802.11. The SoC designer will be responsible for providing their own 100BASE-TX and S/PDIF blocks that will seamlessly connect with the Synopsys’ HDMI HEAC block. The SoC designer will need to incorporate higher layers of 100BASE-TX only if IP packets need to be processed in the end application. Likewise 100BASE-TX IOs are optional depending on whether the end application needs to connect to external router to obtain IP packets. A simplified block diagram of sink and source SoCs with HDMI HEAC block is shown below.

As an IP provider, Synopsys will play an important role in the commercialization of HDMI. The consumer electronic giants we have been working with have appreciated the reduction in their development costs and shortened time-to-market. Also we have applied all the valuable lessons learnt from the plugfest events and HDMI ATCs to reduce the interoperability problems recently seen in the HDMI appliances. For this reason, we believe that a growing number of SoC and system designers will choose to keep their development schedules and budgets on track and lower integration risk by buying their HDMI IP from us.