EdgeCortix Collaborates With Cadence To Accelerate AI Chip Design

By: Cadence Design Systems, Inc. via Business Wire

June 02, 2021 at 10:45 AM EDT

Highlights:

Cadence Xcelium Simulation and VIP for AMBA 3/4 AXI enable fast verification environment bring-up and the highest verification throughput
The Cadence Genus Synthesis Solution and Joules RTL Power Solution let EdgeCortix reduce power analysis turnaround time by 2X and deliver better PPA

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNS) today announced that EdgeCortix, Inc., a leading innovator, focused on artificial intelligence (AI) driven software and hardware acceleration solutions, specially designed for edge computing scenarios, has deployed multiple Cadence^® verification and digital tools to accelerate the design and verification of its edge AI chips. In particular, the Cadence Verification IP (VIP) for the Arm^® AMBA^® 3/4 AXI standard and faster simulation performance with Cadence Xcelium^™ Logic Simulation, enabled EdgeCortix to shorten its verification environment’s development to less than a month, while the Cadence Genus^™ Synthesis Solution and Joules^™ RTL Power Solution delivered a 2X reduction in power analysis time with better power, performance, and area (PPA).

The Cadence solutions were easy to deploy and use, so the EdgeCortix team was able to boost productivity. For example, the VIP for AMBA AXI comes with comprehensive, built-in protocol checks and debugging aids, which made it simple for EdgeCortix to catch protocol bugs early, reducing testbench debug time. Also, the Joules RTL Power Solution let EdgeCortix complete RTL power analysis quickly on multiple versions of their RTL IP, surpassing the planned timetables that were originally allocated for selecting the final RTL IP configuration used for GDSII conversion.

In addition to using the Cadence VIP for AMBA 3/4 AXI and Joules RTL Power Solution, EdgeCortix uses additional Cadence solutions, including the Xcelium Logic Simulator and the Genus Synthesis Solution. EdgeCortix was able to improve overall verification throughput and meet its verification schedule using the Xcelium simulator. Utilizing the Xcelium simulator’s multithreading capability, EdgeCortix was able to run simulations 1.8X faster, with large deep neural network models like YoloV3 running on its IP. Additionally, the Xcelium simulator's superior debug capability allowed EdgeCortix to quickly debug assertions and transactions. The Genus Synthesis Solution’s multithreading capabilities allowed EdgeCortix to try more synthesis options to obtain the best gate-level netlist in less time.

“At EdgeCortix, we provide software and hardware acceleration IP based on our runtime reconfigurable architecture called Dynamic Neural Accelerator™ (DNA) architecture,” said Sakyasingha Dasgupta, CEO, EdgeCortix. “To develop our AI chips, we need solutions that can handle the design complexities while also ensuring our aggressive time-to-market schedules are met. The Cadence digital and verification solutions provided us with tools that made the verification process much more efficient, and the Cadence team offered standout customer support that allowed us to quickly ramp up our design project. To leverage cloud scalability and agility, we now plan to adopt the Cadence CloudBurst platform, which provides a ready-to-use cloud-based design environment so that we don’t have to worry about IT setup and infrastructure management and can focus on delivering our products efficiently.”

Cadence Verification IP and Xcelium Logic Simulation are part of the broader Cadence Verification Suite, and the Cadence Genus Synthesis Solution and Joules RTL Power Solution are part of the digital full flow. The verification suite, the digital full flow and Cadence CloudBurst^™ platform support the company’s Intelligent System Design^™ strategy, enabling SoC design excellence. For more information on the Cadence Verification Suite, please visit www.cadence.com/go/VerificationTools. For more information on the Cadence Digital Suite, go to www.cadence.com/go/DigitalSolutions. For more information on the Cadence Cloud portfolio, please visit www.cadence.com/go/CloudPortfolio.

About Cadence

Cadence is a pivotal leader in electronic design, building upon more than 30 years of computational software expertise. The company applies its underlying Intelligent System Design strategy to deliver software, hardware and IP that turn design concepts into reality. Cadence customers are the world’s most innovative companies, delivering extraordinary electronic products from chips to boards to systems for the most dynamic market applications, including consumer, hyperscale computing, 5G communications, automotive, mobile, aerospace, industrial and healthcare. For seven years in a row, Fortune magazine has named Cadence one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn more at cadence.com.

© 2021 Cadence Design Systems, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Cadence, the Cadence logo and the other Cadence marks found at www.cadence.com/go/trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. Arm and AMBA are registered trademarks or trademarks of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere. EdgeCortix and Dynamic Neural Accelerator™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of EdgeCortix Inc. (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.