Moore’s Law: A Status Report

By Ed Sperling - 20 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 3

Moore's Law has been synonymous with "smaller, faster, cheaper" for the past 52 years, but increasingly it is viewed as just one of a number of options—some competing, some complementary—as the chip industry begins zeroing in on specific market needs. This does not make [getkc id="74" comment="Moore's Law"] any less relevant. The number of companies racing from 16/14nm to 7nm is higher t... » read more

The Hidden Costs Of Security

By Ed Sperling - 13 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 0

There is no argument these days among chipmakers that security needs to be implemented at every level. So why isn't it happening? The answer is more complex than companies pinching pennies, although that is certainly a factor for some chips. The reality, though, is security carries a price for every facet of semiconductor design—power, performance and area. And the impact reaches much furt... » read more

Time For New Rules

By Ed Sperling - 10 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 1

Is Moore's Law dead? Brigadier General Paul Fredenburgh, commandant of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, asked that question to four industry CEOs last week while visiting Silicon Valley with some of his students. He received four highly nuanced, if not different, answers. Left to right: Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence; Wally Rhines, Mentor Graphics; Simon Se... » read more

Pushing Batteries Too Far?

By Ed Sperling - 06 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 0

Reports of battery fires in consumer devices are not abating. The culprit in almost all cases is the lithium-ion battery. In some cases, this is a manufacturing issue, where predictable intervals of failure can point to a breach in the membrane separating the anode and cathode or a metal particle contaminant that causes a short circuit. Those kinds of flaws are well understood, based upon ho... » read more

Security: Losses Outpace Gains

By Ed Sperling - 06 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 0

Paul Kocher, chief scientist in [getentity id="22671" e_name="Rambus'"] Cryptography Research Division, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss the new threats to security, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and how to engineer a secure system. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: Where are we with security? It seems that rather than getting better, thing... » read more

The Great Machine Learning Race

By Ed Sperling - 03 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 2

Processor makers, tools vendors, and packaging houses are racing to position themselves for a role in machine learning, despite the fact that no one is quite sure which architecture is best for this technology or what ultimately will be successful. Rather than dampen investments, the uncertainty is fueling a frenzy. Money is pouring in from all sides. According to a new Moor Insights report,... » read more

IoT Security Risks Grow

By Ed Sperling - 30 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss security issues with Asaf Shen, vice president of marketing for security IP in [getentity id="22186" e_name="ARM's"] Systems & Software Group; Timothy Dry, principal staff marketing manager for the Industrial IoT segment at [getentity id="22819" comment="GlobalFoundries"]; Chowdary Yanamadala, senior vice president of business development at Cha... » read more

Biz Talk: ASICs

By Ed Sperling - 27 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

eSilicon CEO [getperson id="11145" comment="Jack Harding"] talks about the future of scaling, advanced packaging, the next big things—automotive, deep learning and virtual reality—and the need for security. [youtube vid=leO8gABABqk] Related Stories Executive Insight: Jack Harding (Aug 2016) eSilicon’s CEO looks at industry consolidation, competition, China’s impact, an... » read more

When Will It Be Done?

By Ed Sperling - 23 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

Design teams have done remarkably well in getting chips out the door on time, despite growing complexity at each new node and an increase in the number of features and IP blocks that need to be integrated into designs. There has been plenty of grumbling, along with dire warnings about the future of Moore's Law and the impact of industry consolidation. The reality, though, is that the volume ... » read more

Carving Up Verification

By Ed Sperling - 23 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

Anirudh Devgan, executive vice president and general manager of [getentity id="22032" e_name="Cadence's"] System & Verification Group, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss the evolution of verification. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What’s changing in [getkc id="10" kc_name="verification"]? Devgan: Parallelism, greater capacity and multiple engine... » read more

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