Convergence of design and fabrication technologies, a key enabler for HW-SW integration

The last decade was dominated by HW-SW convergence where designers learned to combine hardware and software design to cope with the increased demand of lower cost and increased performances. This starting decade will be dominated by the convergence between design technology (HW and SW) and fabrication technologies. In fact more and more designs require a deep knowledge of technology characteristics to reach the required performances. On the other side, design technologies are more and more used to overcome fabrication process imperfection and to improve yield. This talk will first explain the achievements in HW-SW convergence and SoC design. Then, it will address the fabrication technology trends and challenges to deal with this convergence.