Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1526407
58 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2024 now, that distinction is less relevant. Microcontrollers (MCUs) and systems on chip (SoC) mix analog, digi- tal, and even programmable logic in the same part. On the leading edge, speeds are so fast that you can't really look at it as either digital or ana- log. When designing in those regimes, even the electron physics becomes relevant. There's a lot going on at the silicon level as silicon con- tinues to shrink and Moore's Law runs out of steam. What are some of the challenges facing PCB designers who are looking to develop a more system-aware outlook? I think we need to stop talking about the end of Moore's Law. It's only in danger if we think in terms of the way chips were built back in the 1970s and '80s. Today, there is a big movement to get things off the PCB and into the chip. With high-speed interposers, chiplet-to-chiplet net- working, multiple specialized chiplet cores, and 3D stacks of RAM all in the same pack- age, and when you consider new algorithms and new programming paradigms, computing power per unit of area/volume is still increas- ing at rates that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. When out at the bleeding edge, designers need to find better ways to get power into such small places and heat back out. Data and signal movement on the PCB is an equally important systems level task. ose really are the two critical factors for the PCB designer. What opportunities could we see if designers adopt a silicon-to-systems view of their jobs? I imagine fewer respins would be a no-brainer. By keeping a silicon-to-systems view, virtu- ally every part of the cradle-to-grave design cycle stands to see improvement. It may be about reducing board spins, but it is even more about creating higher performance, more reliable designs. Keeping a systems- level view will reduce the chances of subsystems fight- ing against each other and will allow every component to complement others. What do designers need to know to be ready for a silicon-to-systems strategy? Everything needed for a sil- icon-to-systems strategy is already known in the design world. It has been taught, oen under different labels, for decades now. e requirement for today's engineer is to maintain the discipline and implement a sys- tems-level approach. Project managers and engineering management must set up pro- cesses that allow for it and they must encour- age their design team to implement effective cross-functional information exchange. Is there anything else you'd like to add? e challenges we as an industry are facing are complex but not new. Moore's Law, as I interpret it, is still going strong and we are at a periodic inflection point where both the low- level components and the top-level systems are really more complex than our available set of tools and standard practices can accom- modate. is happens every few years and we need to step back and evaluate our approach to design. We can't do things the way we did even five years ago. In my mind, that is how we should look at silicon to systems. It is a wake-up call to acknowledge the complexity of today's and tomorrow's systems and develop the pro- cesses that will allow innovation to continue to the next inflection point. Very good. Thanks for the input, Duane. ank you, Andy. DESIGN007 Duane Benson