Industry Insights Blogs

The Design Automation Conference (DAC 2015) program is now live, and perhaps not surprisingly, this year’s program has a strong emphasis on the Internet of Things (IoT). DAC 2015 is thus a great opportunity to learn what’s hype and what’s real about IoT, and what it will take to design the billions of connected devices that industry observers expect to be all around us in just a few years.

DAC 2015 runs June 7-11 in San Francisco, California. The DAC 2015 program includes 6 keynotes, 8 “SKY” (short keynote) talks, 27 research paper sessions, 19 special sessions, 5 panels, and 11 DAC Pavilion panels and events. Additionally, DAC includes co-located workshops, tutorials, exhibits, Management Day, and numerous EDA vendor-sponsored events including some from Cadence that we’ll discuss in future blog posts.

So why the focus on IoT? I think the DAC web site says it well:

“More things are connecting to the Internet than people these days. In 2015, the Internet of Things (IoT) is blossoming in terms of concrete products and services. Now is the time to bring together the electronic design ecosystem in order to highlight the key challenges hindering IoT and to assess the range of solutions available to create a sustainable future for IoT.”

Here are some of the DAC 2015 events that will provide a deeper look into IoT:

Monday, June 8

Keynote -- Google Smart Lens: IC Design and Beyond
Brian Otis, director at Google and research associate professor at the University of Washington, will use the Google Smart Contact Lens platform to share thoughts about power, extreme miniaturization, and end-to-end connected systems that span the design space from transistors to the cloud. He will cover chip design techniques for body-worn systems and wireless sensors, and present examples of constantly connected devices for improving healthcare. 

SKY Talk – IoT Security: Solutions and Challenges Ahead
Ramesh Sepehrrad is responsible for overall governance, technology risk, and compliance as it relates to information and infrastructure strategy at Comcast. She oversees several security teams focusing on the protection of customer data, the security of Comcast’s Enterprise and Delivery infrastructure, and technology compliance related activities.

Tuesday, June 9

DAC Pavilion -- The State of the Internet of Things: Promises, Opportunities and Roadblocks
Analyst Gary Smith offers his perspectives on IoT.

Session 19:  Special Session; Automotive Architecture and Networks Jungle

Session 20: Special Session: Build Your Own? Why Not!

Session 26:  Batteries Not Included: Security Technologies for Embedded Systems

Wednesday, June 10

Keynote – Cyber Threats to Connected Cars: Staying Safe Requires More Than Following the Rules of the Road
Cars increasingly are networked computing platforms and with this burgeoning connectivity comes more vulnerability to possible cyber-attacks. Can we make our cars more secure? Or should we accept the fact that they are as vulnerable as our computers at home? John McElroy, Producer of Autoline Detroit, will guide an in-depth chat between Jeffrey Massimilla, Chief of Cybersecurity at GM, and Craig Smith, author of the Car Hacker Manual.

DAC Pavilion -- The Internet of Things: Can We Create a Virtual Silicon Valley?
In this panel, EDA venture capitalist Lucio Lanza and leading business experts will attempt to determine whether the semiconductor industry is at the point where it can export Silicon Valley to the rest of the world. They will take a thought-provoking look at how the Internet of Things has the potential to empower social cultures while minimizing social disruption.

Session 32: Special Session: Industrial Security

Session 46: Special Session: Securing Cyber-Physical Systems: from Surveillance to Transportation and Home

SKY Talk -- Building Infinite Service Opportunities with IoT
Ali Sebt, president and CEO of Renesas Electronics Corp., will discuss how forward-thinking semiconductor vendors can serve customers through system solutions that let them focus on efficiently designing unique IoT applications.

Thursday, June 11

Keynote – Electronics for the Human Body
John Rogers, professor at the University of Illinois, will discuss “biocompatible” electronic products. This talk describes the key ideas, with examples ranging from “cellular-scale” light emitting diodes that can be injected into the brain for optogenetic behavioral control to bio-resorbable electronics that can serve as non-antibiotic bacteriocides for treating surgical site infections.

Session 56: It’s Time in Embedded Systems

Session 63: Emerging Technologies for Energy Autonomous Electronics

Session 69: The Lifecycle of Secure Chip Design

Session 71: PANEL: The Long and Winding Road to IoT Connectivity: Are We There Yet?
What is the best IoT connectivity solution to address the key challenges of signaling, security, presence detection, power consumption and bandwidth? Will Wi-Fi or low-power radio interfaces suffice, or will we need something new?

Session 72: Compile- and Runtime Optimization Methods for Embedded Software

For further details on IoT related presentations at DAC 2015, see the DAC web site. For registration information, click here. Advance registration closes May 12, 2015.

Richard Goering