September 2013 - Page 3 of 9 - Semiconductor Engineering

NoC Straight Talk
By Frank Ferro - 25 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

Increased interest in on-chip network IP is without a doubt directly correlated to the increase in SoC complexity and performance over the past few years. Some SoC design managers even have gone so far as to say that the success of their SoC program is directly related to their ability to implement an on-chip communications network. Underestimating the importance of the on-chip network has caus... » read more

How Much Verification Can One Engineer Handle?
By Frank Schirrmeister - 25 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Frank Schirrmeister When reviewing the agenda of our upcoming Verification Summit here in San Jose this Thursday, the question came to mind of who can actually execute the required complex verification tasks. Can they understand enough detail in hardware, software, and the system aspects to efficiently rid the design of bugs? The reality is that the task requires not one engineer who can do... » read more

Blog Review: Sept. 25
By Ed Sperling - 25 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling Mentor’s Michael Ford has replaced his dingy bathroom lights with LEDs, and now he literally can see all the stuff that needs to be fixed. Sound familiar? Synopsys’ Mick Posner pulls out the old bread and drink mnemonic for which water glass is yours at a crowded table. But what do you do when someone else gets it wrong? “Excuse me, that’s my FPGA prototyping board.�... » read more

Applied To Buy TEL
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

In a deal that could shake-up the fab tool landscape, Applied Materials has announced a definitive agreement to acquire rival Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) in a stock deal valued at around $9.3 billion. Under the terms of the blockbuster deal, Applied Materials will own approximately 68% of the new company and TEL will own about 32%.  The combined entities will have a new name, dual headquarter... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 24
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

LEGO AFM Students from the University College London (UCL), Tsinghua University and Peking University have built an atomic force microscope (AFM) or nanoscope using toy LEGOs. The AFM, dubbed LEGO2NANO, costs less than $500 to make. In contrast, traditional AFMs cost $100,000 or more. The system was made using LEGOs, Arduino controllers, 3D printed parts and consumer electronics. [captio... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 24
By Ann Mutschler - 24 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

Printing nanostructures with self-assembling material A multi-institutional team of engineers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago and Hanyang University in Korea has developed a new approach to the fabrication of nanostructures for the semiconductor and magnetic storage industries. The approach combines top-down advanced ink-jet printing technology... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 24
By Ann Mutschler - 24 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

Generating electricity from sewage Stanford University researchers have come up with a new way to generate electricity from sewage using naturally-occurring “wired microbes” as mini power plants, producing electricity as they digest plant and animal waste. Calling their invention a ‘microbial battery,’ the researchers hope one day it will be used in places such as sewage treatment p... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 23
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus For some time, Apple’s iPhones have incorporated a separate RF switch and diversity switch from Peregrine Semiconductor (PSMI). The switches are based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) variant called silicon-on-sapphire (SOS). Murata takes Peregrine’s RF switches and integrates them into a module. Doug Freedman, an analyst with RBC Capital, said Apple is no longer using PSMI�... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 20
By Ed Sperling - 20 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling It’s reference flow update time as TSMC prepares to roll out both finFETs and stacked die capabilities, and advanced capabilities at 20nm. The foundry updated its reference flows to include tools and IP from all of the Big Three EDA companies. It added Mentor Graphics’ place and route and DFM tools in its 16nm finFET reference flow, and added a slew of Mentor tools, inclu... » read more

Boson Hunting
By Ed Sperling - 20 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling It’s not the “God particle” or anything even remotely connected to the formation of the universe. But in particle physics, the powerful forces that keep the tiny particles in an atom confined to a very small space are now coming into much better focus. [caption id="attachment_5772" align="alignnone" width="640"] Source: Cern.ch[/caption] The reason is a combination o... » read more

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