Author's Latest Posts


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

System Bits: Sept. 9


First transistor-based flexible device with graphene A flexible display incorporating graphene in its pixels’ electronics has been successfully demonstrated by the Cambridge Graphene Centre and Plastic Logic, the first time graphene has been used in a transistor-based flexible device. The prototype is meant to be a first step towards the wider implementation of graphene and graphene-like ... » read more

Smartphones Show Their Weaknesses


According to researchers at the University of Michigan, a weakness believed to exist in Android, Windows and iOS operating systems could be used to obtain personal information from unsuspecting users. This hack was demonstrated in an Android phone and was successful between 82 and 92% of the time on six of seven popular apps that were tested. Gmail, CHASE Bank and H&R Block were among those ... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 2


Thinnest semiconductor A team of researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Hong Kong and the University of Warwick have demonstrated that two single-layer semiconductor materials can be connected in an atomically seamless fashion known as a heterojunction, which they expect could be the basis for next-generation flexible and transparent computing, better light-emitting d... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 2


Hidden patterns Since patterned surfaces are popular among researchers seeking to induce surfaces to repel water or adhere to other things, or to modify materials’ electrical properties, materials scientists at MIT have added a new wrinkle to research on the patterning of surfaces. Most research has focused on patterns on the outer surfaces of materials, but a team in MIT’s Department of ... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Partnerships With an aim to drive adoption of software testing in Japan, Coverity, a Synopsys company said it has tapped OGIS-RI, a Japan-based distributor of IT solutions to partner with Coverity's software testing platform and OGIS-RI's open source license and vulnerability management tool. Maxscend Technologies has joined CEVA’s CEVAnet partner program and will offer complete solutio... » read more

Blog Review: Aug. 27


In the spirit of making a positive social contribution, and to recognize employees for their contributions to the local community, Applied Materials’ chairman Mike Splinter accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Nice job, Mike! With development work underway on the 10nm process node, and questions about getting there with conventional lithography, Cadence’s Richard Goering invites us to ... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →