Author's Latest Posts


Productivity And The IoT


The market for devices that connect almost everything to the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"] is projected to explode, creating opportunities for companies that haven’t been traditional chip developers to decide to start developing devices. Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss this topic with Jack Guedj, corporate VP of Tensilica products at [getentity id="22032" e_name="... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 23


Improved liquid battery Researchers at MIT, led by a materials chemistry professor, have improved a proposed liquid battery system that could enable renewable energy sources to compete with conventional power plants. Professor Donald Sadoway and some colleagues have already started a company to produce electrical-grid-scale liquid batteries, with layers of molten material that automatically... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 23


Contender emerges for 3D IC semiconductor material While silicon has few serious competitors as the material of choice in the electronics industry, transistors cannot keep shrinking to meet the needs of next-gen devices given the significant physical limitations of energy consumption and heat dissipation. To address this, researchers at Harvard University have achieved a reversible change in e... » read more

EDA Vendors Prepare For 7nm


It’s not too early to begin looking at design tools for the 7nm, even though the node is not expected to be production-ready until later this decade. While still in the early stages, foundries already in development with leading EDA companies, even though the water remains murky at this point. “7nm right now is in early definition, so we don't know exactly what it will be,” observed... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 16


Phosphorus: a promising semiconductor According to researchers at Rice University, defects damage the ideal properties of many 2D materials, like carbon-based graphene, but phosphorus just shrugs, making it a promising candidate for nano-electronic applications that require stable properties. The team analyzed the properties of elemental bonds between semiconducting phosphorus atoms in 2D s... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 16


Increasing optical storage capacity with holograms Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a new method for making multi-colored holograms from a thin film of silver nanoparticles, which they say could greatly increase the storage capabilities of typical optical storage devices. The interference produced by the interaction of light with the nanoparticles allows the holog... » read more

Design For IoT


In our already mind-bogglingly connected world where you can control your BMW with a Samsung smartwatch or monitor and pay your parking meter with a credit card on your smartphone, the semiconductor design community is mulling over the opportunities from design kits to embedded software as far as the best ways to equip design teams for the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"] (IoT) era.... » read more

Are We Headed For A Power Wall?


A common theme in semiconductor design circles today are the many power reduction techniques available to engineers to bring the power down in their devices. While power gating and other techniques are effective today, it does lead to questions about how long they will continue providing a benefit. Anand Iyer, director of product marketing for [getentity id="22016" e_name="Calypto"], believe... » read more

Datacenter Power Is Different


With much focus on super low power devices for handhelds and IoT applications, I’m also interested in what’s happening at the seeming other end of the spectrum, in the datacenter. Atrenta CTO Bernard Murphy rightly pointed out that when it comes to power reduction techniques, datacenter power is a different story. He reminded that at a unit-level, a lot has already been done or is underw... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 9


Harvesting power from air A centuries-old clock built for a king is the inspiration for a group of University of Washington computer scientists and electrical engineers who hope to harvest power from the air. The clock, powered by changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure, was invented in the early 17th century by a Dutch builder. Three centuries later, Swiss engineer Jean Leon Reutter b... » read more

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