As vehicles transition into interconnected ecosystems, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies become increasingly crucial. Infotainment systems have evolved beyond mere music players to become central hubs for connectivity, entertainment, and navigation. With global demand for comfort, convenience, and safety rising, the automotive infotainment market is experiencing significant growth. Valued at USD14.99 billion in 2023, it is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% from 2024 to 2030.

To keep pace with this evolution, infotainment systems must accommodate a range of workloads, including audio, voice, AI, and vision technologies. This requires a flexible, scalable Digital Signal Processor (DSP) solution that acts as an offload engine for the main application processor. Integrating a single DSP for varied functions offers a cost-effective solution for high-performance, low-power processing, which aligns well with the needs of Electric Vehicles (EVs).

If you missed the detailed presentation by Casey Ng, Product Marketing Director at Cadence at CadenceLIVE 2024, register at the CadenceLIVE On-Demand site to access it and other insightful presentations. Stay ahead of the curve and explore the future of innovative electronics with us.

Cadence Infotainment Solution: Leading the Charge

Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSPs play a crucial role in enhancing audio capabilities in vehicle infotainment systems. They support applications like voice recognition, hands-free calling, and deliver immersive audio experiences. This technology is also paramount for features such as active noise control, which reduces road and cabin noise, and acoustic event detection for identifying unusual sounds like broken glass. One notable innovation is the "audio bubble," enabling personalized audio zones within the vehicle, ensuring passengers enjoy distinct audio settings.

Cadence HiFi DSP technology enriches the driving experience for electric vehicles by mimicking traditional engine sounds, while its advanced audio processing ensures optimal performance across various digital radio standards. It significantly contributes to noise reduction, hence improving the cabin experience. Integrating a Double Precision Floating Point Unit (FPU) stands out, as it upgrades audio performance and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) through efficient 64-bit processing, allowing control over numerous speakers without hitches.

These advancements distinguish the DSP as an essential tool in evolving infotainment systems, offering unmatched performance and adaptability. Tensilica HiFi processors, crucial to advanced infotainment SoCs, serve as efficient offload processors, augmenting real-time execution and energy efficiency. Cadence’s ecosystem, with over 200 codecs and software partnerships, propels the evolution of innovative infotainment systems. Introducing the HiFi 5s DSP marks a new era in connected car experiences, setting the stage for groundbreaking advancements.

Exploring Tomorrow with HiFi 5s DSP Technology

The HiFi 5s represents the apex of audio and AI digital signal processing performance. Built on the Xtensa LX8 platform, it introduces capabilities like auto-vectorization, which allows standard C code to be automatically optimized for performance. This synergy of hardware and software co-design marks a significant step forward in DSP technology. By leveraging its extended Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) capabilities alongside features like a double-precision floating-point unit (DP_FPU), the HiFi 5s delivers unparalleled precision and speed improvements in signal and audio processing tasks. Equally notable are its branch prediction and L2 cache enhancements, which optimize system performance by refining the control code execution and recognizing codec efficiency. The application of such enhancements are particularly beneficial in real-world scenarios.

AI-Powered Audio

Cadence's focus on AI integration with the HiFi 5s demonstrates significant improvements in audio clarity through AI-powered solutions.

• AI models learn from real-world data and adapt dynamically, while classic DSP algorithms rely on fixed rules.
• AI can be fine-tuned for specific scenarios, whereas classic DSP lacks flexibility.
• AI handles extreme and marginal noise patterns better, generalizes well across different environments, and is robust against varying noise characteristics.

Cadence's dedication to artificial intelligence marks a pivotal shift in audio processing. Traditional DSP algorithms, bound by rigid rules, are eclipsed by AI's ability to learn dynamically from real-world data. This adaptability equips AI models to tackle challenging noise patterns and offer unmatched clarity even in noisy environments, making them ideal for automotive and consumer audio applications.

Realtime AI-Optimized Speech Enhancements by OmniSpeech and ai|coustics

OmniSpeech

Our partner, OmniSpeech, has advanced AI-based audio processing that enhances the performance of audio software, specifically for omnidirectional and dipole microphones. Impressively, their technology operates with less than 32MHz and requires only 418kB of memory.

Test results show that background noise is significantly reduced when AI employs a single omnidirectional microphone, outperforming non-AI solutions. Additionally, when using a dipole microphone with AI, there is a 3.5X improvement in the weighted Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and more than a 28% increase in the Global Mean Opinion Score (GMOS) across various background noise.

ai|coustics

ai|coustics, a Cadence partner specializing in advanced audio technologies, utilizes real-time AI-optimized speech enhancement algorithms. They leverage an extensive speech-quality dataset containing thousands of hours and 100 languages to transform low-quality audio into studio-grade audio. Their process includes:

• De-reverb, which eliminates room resonances, echoes, and reflections

• Removing artifacts from downsampling and codec compression

• Dynamic and adaptive background noise removal

• Reviving audio materials with analog and digital distortions

• Providing support for all languages, accents, and a variety of speakers

Applications include:

• Automotive: Enhances clarity of navigation commands and communication for driver safety

• Consumer audio: Improves voice clarity for better dialogue understanding in TV programs. Optimizes speech intelligibility in communication for both uplink and downlink audio streams

• Smart IoT: Boosts voice command detection and response quality

Performance Enhancements

The advancements in branch prediction and L2 cache integration have significantly boosted performance metrics across various systems. With HiFi 5s, branch prediction increases codec efficiency by an average of 5%, reaching up to 16% in optimal conditions. L2 cache improvements have drastically enhanced system-level performance, evidenced by a 2.3X boost in EVS decoder efficiency. Adding MACs and imaging ISA in imaging use cases has led to substantial advancements. When comparing HiFi 5s to HiFi 5, imaging ISA performance improvements range with >60% average performance improvements.

The Crescendo of the Future

As Cadence continues to blaze trails in DSP technology, the HiFi 5s emerges as the quintessential solution for consumer and automotive audio use cases. With a robust framework for auto-vectorization, an unmatched double-precision FPU, AI-driven audio solutions, and comprehensive system enhancements, Cadence is orchestrating the next era of audio processing, where every note is clearer, every sound richer, and every experience more engaging. It is not just the future of audio—it's the future of how we experience the world around us.

 Discover how Cadence Automotive Solutions can transform your business today!

I have a 2-dimensional input in my design - input [2:0] data_in [15:0]. After synthesis with genus, I got a netlist where the inputs are like data[15], data[14],...,data[0]. And furthermore it has definitions like input [2:0] data[15], .... So how can I define the pin locations of each of the bits for this input? Can I define data[15]'s inner bits like data[15][0]? Is it possible to define this with def files?

Hello All:

I am looking for help on the following, as I am new to Cadence tools [I have to use Cadence Innovus for Physical Design after Logic Synthesis using Synopsys Design Compiler, using Nangate 45 nm Open Cell Library]: while using Cadence Innovus, I would need to select a few specific nets to be routed through a specific metal layer. How can I do this on Innovus [are there any command(s)]? Also, would writing and sourcing a .tcl script [containing the command(s)] on the Innovus terminal after the Placement Stage of Physical Design be fine for this?

Secondly, is there a way in Innovus to manipulate layout components, such as changing some pin placements, wire directions (say for example, wire direction changed to facing east from west, etc.) or moving specific closely placed cells around (without violating timing constraints of course) using any command(s)/.tcl script? If so, would pin placement changes and constraining some closely placed cells to be moved apart be done after Floorplanning/Powerplanning (that is, prior to Placement) and the wire direction changes be done after Routing? 

While making the necessary changes, could I use the usual Innovus commands to perform Physical Design of the remaining nets/wires/pins/cells, etc., or would anything need modification for the remaining components as well?

I would finally need to dump the entire design containing all of this in a .def file.

I tried looking up but could only find matter on Virtuoso and SKILL scripting, but I'd be using Innovus GUI/terminal with Nangate 45 nm Open Cell Library. I know this is a lot, but I would greatly appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

Riya

I'm currently trying to explore the verilog simulation option in cadence.

One thing that comes to my mind that if there exists a way in cadence workflow to dump selected register/wire's waveform during the simulation. 

Are there any additional tools needed apart from xcelium, is there a tutorial or specific training course for this aspect. I glance through Xcelium Simulator Course Version 22.09, but it seems not having related context. 

I know in Synopsys's workflow, it can be realized using verdi & fsdb in the command line as follows:

if (inst.CTRL_STATE==STATE_START_TO_DUMP)

$fsdbDumpvars(0, inst_1.reg_0);

end

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, 

Is there any method to generate "Sheet" column for a pin report like table below? The column "Name.Pin" & "Signal" can be generated easily, but I have no idea to generate the column of "Sheet Name".

The software using here are Allegro Design Entry HDL, OrCAD Capture and Allegro PCB Editor. Can these 3 software generate "Sheet Name" data?

Thank you. 

Does anyone know whether it is possible to have multiple contact points for a bond wire on a large die pad? Note: This is different from adding multiple wires which I will also be doing. I need to add multiple bond connections to the same large die pad for redundancy connections to each pad for each wire. I have a large die pad which I need to have 5 wires with each wire having 3 bond connections to the same die pad.

Starting SPB 23.1, a new pin property, WIREBOND_PROFILE_NAME is introduced. This property can be used to define a wirebond profile to a die pin. When adding a wirebond, the pin will use the profile defined in the WIREBOND_PROFILE_NAME property associated to the die pin.

Assign the WIREBOND_PROFILE_NAME property to the die pin using Edit > Properties and set the desired wirebond profile name in the Value field.

The following image displays the WIREBOND_PROFILE_NAME property assigned to the pin and wire profile of the Wire Bond for that pin.

Hi,

i am compiling firmware under Windows transfer the binaries and the sources to Linux to simulate/debug there. The problem is that the paths in the DWARF debug info of the .elf file are the absolute Windows paths as set by the compiler so they are useless under Linux. Is it possible to configure mappings of these paths to the Linux paths when simulating/debugging like with e.g. GDB (https://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb/Source-Path.html#index-set-substitute_002dpath)?

thx,

Peter

Hello..

I'm updating part in part editor in orcad capture, and I wonder how to align pin numbers using menu or tcl/tk command.

Please, let me know. Thank you.

The default position of the pin number is incorrect.

This blog helps in demonstrating the use of Pin to trunk routing style which helps in enhancing the layout experience.(read more)

Hello,

Trying to figure out why this situation does not generate a DRC error.

A resistor was accidently placed so the pad was on top of another pad. See picture:

I have checked the CM and both Spacing Constraint Set and Same Net Spacing Constraint Set have Smd pin to Smd pin set to 0.1 mm.

I'm using Allegro PCB designer 22.1.

If someone has an idea why this does not give a DRC i would appreciate it. Thanks.

Regards,

Filip

Global free zones may be spurring development in less economically developed countries

Alpine F1 team will make switch to Mercedes-Benz AMG power units in 2026 Agreement lasts until at least 2030 Former supplier Renault is ending F1 power unit program to focus on EV technology The Alpine Formula 1 team on Tuesday announced plans to switch to power units and gearboxes from Mercedes-Benz AMG starting in 2026, when F1 is due to...

The Philippines’ mining-friendly policies have opened up opportunities for Australian mining equipment, technology and services (METS) providers.

Body-camera video released on Monday showed the chaotic, violent moments leading to the fatal Los Angeles police shooting of an assault suspect in a clothing store, and of a 14-year-old girl caught in

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Beijing — China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it seized from the Philippines, a move that's likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims. The Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted online geographic coordinates for the baselines around Scarborough Shoal. A nation's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically defined as the distance from the baselines. Both China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal and other outcroppings in the South China Sea. China seized the shoal, which lies west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012 and has since restricted access to Filipino fishermen there. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid but Beijing refuses to abide by it. Ships from China and the Philippines have collided several times as part of increased confrontations, and the Chinese coast guard has blasted Philippine vessels with water cannons. China's move came two days after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws demarcating the government's claims in the disputed waters. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said that the delimiting of the baselines was in accordance with a U.N. agreement and Chinese law. "This is a natural step by the Chinese government to lawfully strengthen marine management and is consistent with international law and common practices," it said. The statement added that one of the laws signed by Marcos, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, violates China's sovereignty in the South China Sea. "China firmly opposes it and will continue to do everything necessary in accordance with law to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," the Foreign Ministry said. China stakes claim to almost the entirety of the South China Sea. It has a series of disputes with several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and Vietnam over territory in the waters, which are part of a key shipping route in Asia.

MANILA, Philippines — A new typhoon barreled across an agricultural region in the northeastern Philippines on Monday after thousands were evacuated to safety while still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by three successive storms in the last three weeks. Typhoon Toraji slammed into northeastern Aurora province and was forecast to blow over the mountainous Luzon region, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — just the day before — inspected the damage from the last storm and led the distribution of food packs to residents in Cagayan and Ilocos provinces. Marcos skipped this week's Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum in Peru to oversee recovery efforts from back-to-back storms. After making landfall in Aurora on Monday morning with sustained winds of up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 180 kph (112 mph), the typhoon was expected to barrel northwestward across Luzon, weaken as it crosses a mountain range and then blow into the South China Sea. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Sunday ordered the forcible evacuation of people in 2,500 villages expected to be lashed by Toraji, locally named Nika, warning that the rain-soaked Luzon mountains, valleys and plains were more susceptible to flash floods and landslides. With the typhoon approaching fast, there was little time to move large numbers of people to safety, he said. "We understand if some would want to stay, but we have to get them out," Remulla told reporters. The military said its disaster-response forces have been deployed near high-risk areas and were standing by for new contingencies. It added that it suspended combat drills in the north due to the weather. "Our commitment remains steadfast in safeguarding and assisting our countrymen specially in times of disaster," Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said. Schools were shut down, inter-island ferry services and domestic flights were suspended in provinces in or near the path of the typhoon, the 14th weather disturbance to batter the Philippine archipelago this year. Forecasters said they were monitoring another brewing storm in the Pacific that could affect the country if it strengthens. The last two typhoons and a tropical storm caused more than 160 deaths, damaged thousands of houses and farmlands and affected more than 9 million people, including hundreds of thousands who fled to emergency shelters, after dumping from one to two months' worth of rain in just 24 hours in some cities and towns. Overwhelmed, the Philippines received help from Southeast Asian countries led by Singapore, along with longtime treaty ally the United States, to transport food, water and other aid to hard-hit northern provinces. The Philippine archipelago is often battered by typhoons and earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.

HONG KONG — Merchants and consumers alike found the Singles' Day shopping festival Monday less shiny than in years past as e-commerce firms look abroad for growth. The annual event named by the numeric form of its Nov. 11 date was started by e-commerce platform Alibaba, which offered attractive discounts to entice shoppers to spend big. The extravaganza has since expanded to other platforms like JD.com and Pinduoduo in China as well as abroad. While Singles’ Day was previously a one-day event, shopping platforms in China now kickstart the festival weeks ahead to drum up sales volume. The festival has also traditionally been regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment. But amid China’s lagging domestic economy, dragged down by a real estate crisis and deflationary pressures, consumers no longer go all out on purchases during the shopping extravaganza. “I only spent a few hundred yuan on daily necessities,” said Wang Haihua, who owns a fitness center in Beijing. Wang said that the prices offered on e-commerce platforms during Singles’ Day are not necessarily cheaper than usual. “They’re all tricks and we’ve seen through it over the years,” she said. Zhang Jiewei, a 34-year-old who runs a barber shop in Xi’an city, echoed Wang’s sentiments, saying that he no longer trust Singles’ Day promotions as some merchants tend to raise the usual price of a product before offering a discount, giving consumers the illusion they are getting a deal. “I used to buy a lot two or three years ago and I even purchased a mobile phone (during Singles’ Day),” he said. “I stopped doing that following the pandemic because of less income. I am not going to buy anything this year,” Zhang added. Some experts say that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures have had little impact to boost consumer confidence. “People are not interested in spending and are cutting back on big-ticket items,” said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. “Since October 2022, the weak economy means that everything has been on discount year-round, 11.11 is not going to bring in more discounts that the month before.” Rein said he expects low growth for the Singles’ Day shopping festival as consumers tighten their spending in anticipation of difficult economic times ahead. Categories such as sportswear and fitness, however, have been doing well as customers “trade down a Gucci bag for Lululemon sportswear,” he said. Platforms like JD.com and Alibaba, which operates e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, previously used to publish the value of transactions made during the festival, but have since stopped revealing the total figure. While yearly growth used to be in the double digits, estimates of recent figures have dwindled to low single-digit growth. Syntun, a data provider, estimated that last year’s gross merchandising volume sales across major e-commerce platforms grew just 2% to $156.40 billion, a far cry from double-digit growth before COVID-19. Merchants who typically take part in the Singles’ Day shopping festivals say the costs of participation no longer pay off, amid high advertising fees and unsatisfactory sales. Zhao Gao, who owns a garment factory in eastern Zhejiang province, said that after paying advertising costs to e-commerce platforms he would only break even after sales. “The platforms have so many rules for promotions and customers have become more skeptical,” he said. “As a merchant, I no longer participate in the Singles’ Day promotions.” Another merchant, Du Baonian who runs a food company processing mutton in Inner Mongolia, said that overall sales in the past year have fallen 15% as consumers downgraded and reduced consumption. Du said that while he still takes part in the Singles’ Day promotions, the higher expenses do not typically generate returns because of sluggish sales. “We are seeing shrinking revenue, but advertisement on the platform can help us to maintain our leading sales position,” he said, adding that he was considering advertising on more e-commerce platforms to target more consumers. Meanwhile, e-commerce platforms grappling with a slowing domestic market have also turned to overseas markets to seek new growth, offering promotions like global free shipping and allowing merchants to sell globally with ease. Alibaba, for example, said in a blog post on its Alizila site that some 70,000 merchants saw sales double with global free shipping. In markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, new customers also doubled, Alibaba said.

London — A British soldier accused of passing sensitive information to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pleaded guilty Monday to escaping from prison while awaiting trial. Daniel Abed Khalife is on trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court, accused of collecting sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022. Khalife, who is no longer a member of the British armed forces, also denies leaving a fake bomb on a desk and absconding from his barracks in 2023. Prosecutors had also alleged Khalife escaped from London's Wandsworth prison in September 2023 by tying himself to the bottom of a delivery van, sparking a brief nationwide manhunt. The 23-year-old had originally pleaded not guilty to escaping from lawful custody but changed his plea to guilty Monday after having given evidence for several days earlier this month. Khalife is also charged with gathering information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iran, obtaining information likely to be useful for terrorism and perpetrating a bomb hoax. He still denies those three charges and his trial continues.

Manila, Philippines — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the International Criminal Court (ICC) should 'hurry up' with its probe of his war on drugs, remaining firm in his defense of the brutal campaign as he said the investigation should start immediately. "I'm asking the ICC to hurry up, and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow," Duterte said in a congressional inquiry on his war on drugs. "If I am found guilty, I will go to prison." According to police data, more than 6,200 people died in anti-drug operations under Duterte's presidency, during which police typically said they had killed suspects in self-defense. Human rights groups believe the real toll to be far greater, with thousands more users and small-time peddlers killed in mysterious circumstances by unknown assailants. "I assume full responsibility for whatever happened in the actions taken by law enforcement agencies of this country to... stop the serious problem of drugs affecting our people," said Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022. The ICC last year cleared the way for an investigation into the several thousand deaths and other suspected rights abuses. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in March 2019. Appeals judges at the ICC subsequently ruled prosecutors still had jurisdiction over the alleged crimes because they occurred when the Philippines was an ICC member.

The US-Philippines Alliance Fellowship

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Manila this week to "advance security objectives" and meet Filipino and American troops, the US State Department said on Wednesday, November 13.

The Philippines ordered evacuations ahead of Typhoon Ofel (international name: Usagi) on Wednesday, as the UN disaster office sought $32.9 million in aid for the country after storms that killed more than 150 people.

A former employee of a Bataan-based business process outsourcing firm has filed a "slander by deed" case against Winston Casio, the relieved spokesperson of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

President Marcos has announced that the Philippines will participate in the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety to be held in Morocco in February next year.

A business process outsourcing employee who was slapped by relieved Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission spokesman Winston John Casio during a raid on a suspected Philippine offshore gaming operator hub in Bagac, Bataan has filed criminal charges against the official.

The Great Mosque, in all its majestic grandeur, is less enticing if you're an American woman who somehow finds herself inside it.

In its recent defense technology deal with the U.S., India has laid the groundwork for creating a robust long-term defense industrial base.

At a recent media briefing, Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, criticized the United States for its support of educational programs, media and NGOs in Africa. Zakharova argued that these efforts are part of a broader attempt by the U.S. to impose Western values and governance models on sovereign African states, framing it […]

Social development in a global context shows the risk of trending downwards and not recovering if countries do not minimize the long-term impacts of multiple crises and work towards building up their resilience. As much as this will require national political will, it will also need global cooperation for it to be possible. The United […]