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Ann Mutschler

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Ann Mutschler is senior executive editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Simple Does Not Mean Easy
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

When it comes to chip design we speak constantly about managing complexity - how best to architect for it, how to manage it, what design techniques to use, what the impact on the system will be etc. - but we don't speak too much about making the design more simple. Instead, we heap on more complexity to manage the complexity. As with everything else in life it seems just because something is... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 14
By Ann Mutschler - 14 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

Disorderly conduct With a significant ability to store power per a given weight, lithium batteries have been a major focus of research to enable use in everything from portable electronics to electric cars and now researchers at MIT and Brookhaven National Laboratory have found the use of disordered materials – generally considered unsuitable for batteries – can be used in a new avenue for... » read more

System Bits: Jan. 14
By Ann Mutschler - 14 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

Fastest organic transistor Research teams from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Stanford University have worked together to produce what they believe are the world’s fastest thin-film organic transistors, proving that this experimental technology has the potential to achieve the performance needed for high-resolution television screens and similar electronic devices. The researchers sa... » read more

System Bits: Jan. 7
By Ann Mutschler - 07 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

Vanadium’s wonders Already prized for its extraordinary ability to change size, shape and physical identity, vanadium dioxide can now add muscle power to its attributes, researchers with Berkeley Lab reported. They have demonstrated a micro-sized robotic torsional muscle/motor made from vanadium dioxide that for its size is a thousand times more powerful than a human muscle, able to catapult... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 7
By Ann Mutschler - 07 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

Harvesting electricity In order to produce small amounts of electricity for portable devices and sensors, Georgia Tech researchers are developing a family of power generators that take advantage of the triboelectric effect. The researchers are using what’s technically known as the triboelectric effect to create surprising amounts of electric power by rubbing or touching two different mate... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 31
By Ann Mutschler - 31 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Approximate computing With the potential to double efficiency and reduce energy consumption, Purdue University and NEC Laboratories America researchers are developing computers capable of "approximate computing" to perform calculations good enough for certain tasks that don't require perfect accuracy. The need for approximate computing is driven by a fundamental shift in the nature of compu... » read more

System Bits: Dec. 31
By Ann Mutschler - 31 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Low signal loss waveguides With the potential to enable a leap ahead in size reduction and performance, DARPA-funded researchers at UCSB and CalTech have developed new methods to integrate long coils of waveguides with low signal loss onto microchips—potentially enabling a leap ahead in size reduction and performance. Long coils of optical waveguides—any structure that can guide light, ... » read more

Mentor Buys Oasys Assets For Digital Implementation
By Ann Mutschler - 17 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Bolstering its bid in the digital implementation flow as well as positioning itself squarely against EDA leaders Cadence and Synopsys in the RTL synthesis arena, Mentor Graphics this afternoon announced it has acquired ‘certain assets’ of Oasys Design Systems for its RealTime RTL physical synthesis technology. This acquisition aligns with Mentor’s goal to deliver a best-in-class digita... » read more

System Bits: Dec. 17
By Ann Mutschler - 17 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Simple, Inexpensive Graphene Treatment Could Unleash New Uses To help realize the promise of graphene in electronics, solar power, and sensors, researchers from MIT and UC Berkeley have created what they said is a simple, inexpensive treatment that they believe may help realize the potential of the material. While pure graphene lacks some key properties needed for electronic devices, modify... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 17
By Ann Mutschler - 17 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Low-power tunneling transistor to enable high-performance devices To make fast and low-power computing devices possible for energy-constrained applications such as smart sensor networks, implantable medical electronics and ultra-mobile computing, a new type of transistor is needed. To this end, researchers at Penn State, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and specialty wafer fo... » read more

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