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Ann Mutschler

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Ann Mutschler is senior executive editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Mitigating Risk Through Verification
By Ann Mutschler - 05 Dec, 2018 - Comments: 0

Verification is all about mitigating risk, and one of the growing issues alongside of increasing complexity and new architectures is coverage. The whole notion of coverage is making sure a chip will work as designed. That requires determining the effectiveness of the simulation tests that stimulate it, and its effectiveness in terms of activating structures of functional behavior and design.... » read more

System Bits: Dec. 4
By Ann Mutschler - 04 Dec, 2018 - Comments: 0

High precision system for self-driving car navigation Based on technology developed by ETH Zurich researchers, Fixposition is a spin-off specializing in real-time navigation systems for use in self-driving vehicles, robots or industrial drones, which uses a combination of satellite-based positioning systems such as GPS with computer vision technologies to achieve an unparalleled degree of prec... » read more

Bare Metal Programming
By Ann Mutschler - 29 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 0

As the need for safety and security grows across application areas such as automotive, industrial, and in the cloud, the semiconductor industry is searching for the best ways to protect these systems. The big question is whether it is better to build security and safety into hardware, into software, or both. The answer isn't entirely clear yet, but one of the options under consideration is s... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 27
By Ann Mutschler - 27 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 2

Silent, lightweight aircraft powered by ionic wind Instead of propellers or turbines, MIT researchers have built and flown the first-ever aircraft with no moving parts that is powered by an “ionic wind” — a silent but mighty flow of ions that is produced aboard the plane, and that generates enough thrust to propel the plane over a sustained, steady flight. [caption id="attachment_2414... » read more

Overcoming Gender Stereotypes In Tech
By Ann Mutschler - 23 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 5

Gender inequality in the workplace is more complex and deep-rooted than most studies have shown, and efforts to address those issues are only scratching the surface. The problem runs deeper than just moving women into upper management. It extends all the way through organizations in ways that aren't always obvious. “I've been talking to senior women in engineering and junior women in en... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 20
By Ann Mutschler - 20 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 0

Designing transistors that don’t overheat In order to avoid heat-induced voids and cracking that can cause chips and circuits to fail, Stanford University and University of California at Davis researchers have developed a way to not only manage heat, but help route it away from delicate devices that leverages a thermal transistor, which is a nanoscale switch that can conduct heat away from ... » read more

How To Improve Analog Design Reuse
By Ann Mutschler - 14 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 0

Digital circuit design is largely automated today, but most analog components still are designed manually. This may change soon. As analog design grows increasingly complex and error-prone, design teams and tool vendors are focusing on how to automate as much of the design of analog circuits as possible. Analog design is notoriously difficult and varied. It can include anything from power ma... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 13
By Ann Mutschler - 13 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 0

Deep learning device identifies airborne allergens To identify and measure airborne biological particles, or bioaerosols, that originate from living organisms such as plants or fungi, UCLA researchers have invented a portable device that uses holograms and machine learning. The device is trained to recognize five common allergens — pollen from Bermuda grass, oak, ragweed and spores from t... » read more

Aging Analysis Hits Mainstream
By Ann Mutschler - 08 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 1

Given the ever increasing challenge of designing high-reliability ICs – especially for automotive, medical, industrial, and aerospace and defense applications – the inclusion of aging analysis capabilities is on the rise in EDA tools as well as design IP. The issue comes down to predictability of devices as they operate. As discussed in, “Taming NBTI To Improve Device Reliability,” t... » read more

Taming NBTI To Improve Device Reliability
By Ann Mutschler - 08 Nov, 2018 - Comments: 2

Negative-bias temperature instability is a growing issue at the most advanced process nodes, but it also has proven extremely difficult to tame using conventional approaches. That finally may be starting to change. NBTI is an aging mechanism in field-effect transistors that leads to a change of the characteristic curves of a transistor during operation. The result can be a drift toward unint... » read more

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