June 2009 - Page 2 of 2 - Semiconductor Engineering


Upgrading the 100-year-old grid, one standard at a time


By Brian Fuller The nation’s power grid hasn’t been upgraded in a century, but suddenly there’s a sense of urgency. In high-profile meetings from Washington to Santa Clara in the past two months, industry executives, scientists, engineers and government officials have ratcheted up the dialogue about modernizing how energy is generated, distributed and used. The movement, helped by a... » read more

Understanding Power-Aware Verification


By Bhanu Kapoor We are at the crossroads of some fundamental changes that are taking place in the semiconductor industry. Power consumption has become one of the most important differentiating factors for semiconductor products due to a major shift in the market towards handheld consumer devices. Power is a primary design criterion for the bulk of semiconductor designs now, and it's a key re... » read more

Fear Of Failure


For the past five decades, failure in the semiconductor world was nothing to be ashamed of. Mistakes were a sign of experience, and even some of the most spectacular errors in judgment didn’t cost design teams their jobs or deter more experimentation.   As we move down into the realm of 45nm and beyond, that’s no longer the case. Mistakes can cause an entire project to be shut down for... » read more

Newer posts →