Picocom Accelerates 5G Communications SoC Development with Cadence Palladium Emulation

Rhea-AI Summary

Cadence Design Systems (Nasdaq: CDNS) announced the deployment of its Palladium Enterprise Emulation Platform by Picocom, aimed at enhancing the verification and validation of 5G SoC designs. Picocom reported a significant 1000X emulation speedup compared to RTL simulation, allowing them to advance system software on RISC-V cores before silicon availability. Utilizing Cadence’s power analysis and interface testing tools, Picocom effectively managed power budgets while enabling remote collaboration for engineers. The Palladium platform is pivotal for accelerating product development amid competitive demands in the 5G sector.

Positive

• Achieved 1000X emulation speedup compared to RTL simulation.
• Enabled early system software development on RISC-V cores.
• Facilitated efficient power management utilizing Cadence's tools.

Negative

• None.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNS) today announced that Picocom has deployed the Cadence^® Palladium^® Enterprise Emulation Platform to accelerate the verification and pre-silicon software validation of its system-on-chip (SoC) designs for 5G open radio access network (RAN) applications. Using the Palladium emulation platform, Picocom achieved faster hardware and software integration, experiencing an emulation speedup of 1000X when compared with RTL simulation.

The Palladium emulation platform gave Picocom the ability to bring up system software on RISC-V cores in advance of silicon being available. Using the Palladium emulation platform, Picocom took advantage of fast, predictable compile and was able to quickly debug its design. Picocom also met its power budget requirements using the Palladium Dynamic Power Analysis (DPA) feature, the Cadence Joules^™ RTL Power Solution and the Cadence Voltus^™ IC Power Integrity Solution to identify, capture and analyze power activity. To run efficient interface testing, Picocom utilized the Cadence SpeedBridge^® adapters for PCI Express^® (PCIe^®) 4.0, USB 3.0 and Ethernet. Additionally, Picocom’s international team of engineers took advantage of the Palladium emulation platform’s remote accessibility, which allowed them to seamlessly work together to validate their designs.

“Developing 5G applications is extremely competitive, so we have to work at top speed while delivering the best products,” said Peter Claydon, President, Picocom. “We're emulating a 5G NR RAN where the slot length is generally 0.5ms, and most of the time, we need to emulate a few slots, which Palladium emulation now enables us to do in a matter of minutes. The Cadence Palladium emulation platform has dramatically improved our team’s efficiency, and the investment proved to be well worth it.”

The Palladium Enterprise Emulation Platform is part of the Cadence Verification Suite and supports the company's Intelligent System Design^™ strategy, enabling SoC design excellence. The Cadence Verification Suite is comprised of core engines and verification fabric technologies that increase verification throughput and design quality, fulfilling verification requirements for a wide variety of applications and vertical segments. For more information on the Palladium emulation platform, please visit www.cadence.com/go/PalladiumSuccess.

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. PCI Express and PCIe are registered trademarks of PCI-SIG. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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FAQ

What is the significance of Cadence's Palladium platform for Picocom's 5G SoC designs?

The Palladium platform significantly speeds up verification processes, providing a 1000X improvement over RTL simulations and enabling early software development before silicon is available.

How does the Palladium platform help in managing power budgets for Picocom?

Picocom utilized Cadence's Dynamic Power Analysis feature and related tools to effectively capture and analyze power activity, ensuring compliance with power budget requirements.

What competitive advantage does Picocom gain using the Palladium platform?

The ability to rapidly emulate system designs allows Picocom to improve efficiency and expedite the development of 5G applications, which is crucial in a highly competitive market.

What tools did Picocom use alongside the Palladium platform for testing?

Picocom used Cadence SpeedBridge adapters for PCIe 4.0, USB 3.0, and Ethernet to run efficient interface tests.

How does the Palladium platform support remote collaboration for engineering teams?

The Palladium platform's remote accessibility feature enables Picocom's international teams to collaborate seamlessly on design validation.