Liz Allan

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Liz Allan is managing editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Orbital Data Centers Are Souped-Up Satellites – For Now
By Liz Allan - 04 Jun, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: Today’s orbital data centers are better described as compute centers in space, as they resemble satellite constellations more than terrestrial data centers. The most common power solution is sun-synchronous solar at the poles, but this requires a multi-hop data relay from power-hungry compute to standard satellite constellations in the low-orbit mesh, then to Earth. ... » read more

AI-Defined Vehicles Increase Pressure On Auto Ethernet Reliability
By Liz Allan - 04 Jun, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: For AI-defined vehicles and onboard agentic AI, Automotive Ethernet provides high bandwidth for sensor data fusion, TSN ensures low latency and synchronization for real-time decisions, and MACsec secures the data link. Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is an essential protocol for ensuring 10BASE-T1S delivers data to where it needs to go on time. Still, it becomes less esse... » read more

Swapping Out Chiplets: I/Os Vs. Compute
By Liz Allan - 28 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: Companies can save time and money by swapping out a compute, memory, or I/O chiplet to gain technology improvements, while keeping the other dies stable. Chip architects may choose to keep their I/Os stable and swap out compute to move from a 5nm process node to 3nm to achieve performance and power improvements, or swap out memory from LPDDR5X to LPDDR6. Swapping out... » read more

Confusion Grows With More Interconnect Options And Tradeoffs
By Liz Allan - 18 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: Designers are frequently evaluating 5 or more different interconnects in a single system, each with a distinct purpose. While chip-to-chip (PCIe) and die-to-die (UCIe, BoW) technologies seem to be solving a similar problem, in practice they bring different challenges. PCIe, CXL, NVLink, and UALink are all active in the hyperscaler space, but Ethernet-based technologies... » read more

Humanoid Touch And Voice Are Improving Rapidly
By Liz Allan - 07 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways Humanoid robots are rapidly expanding beyond factories and logistics toward broader, general-purpose roles (including in-home assistance), driven by advances in AI and sensing. Compared with vision and language, touch (haptics) and hearing/voice in real environments remain the hardest — and most commercially important — sensing challenges, requiring fast sensor fusio... » read more

Next-Gen Batteries Require Impedance Data And Active Balancing
By Liz Allan - 07 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways Electric vehicles and energy storage systems using LFP batteries require more sophisticated diagnostic methods because they exhibit very flat cell voltages across various charge levels, making it harder to estimate usable energy. Battery management systems are leveraging new components, AI/ML, digital twins, and other techniques to get more accurate, real-time data, includ... » read more

NoC Coherency Challenges Balloon With AI SoCs And Chiplets
By Liz Allan - 30 Apr, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways Data movement, congestion, and energy efficiency are key determiners of whether compute is usable. Different processors bring various coherency challenges. For example, a cache-coherent NoC for CPUs is expensive and harder to verify than an I/O-coherent NoC for an accelerator. Designers need to balance top-down performance with bottom-up physical engineering to effect... » read more

How Long Will CAN Stick Around As Rival Networks Speed Up?
By Liz Allan - 29 Apr, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways Automotive Ethernet is rapidly becoming the backbone of software-defined vehicles for higher bandwidth, scalability, and advanced features like TSN and security that legacy protocols cannot match. CAN, LIN, and other legacy networks will not disappear quickly because they are deeply embedded, low‑cost, and proven, but they are increasingly seen as inadequate for future A... » read more

Moving Electrons, Not Just Vehicles
By Liz Allan - 02 Apr, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: There are several ways to convert AC power from the grid to DC power in the system. Some degrade the battery faster than others. Battery management systems monitor cell voltage, current, and temperature, helping to estimate state of charge, health, and useful remaining life. A PMIC with a multi-level converter is the most efficient way to get power from the battery to ... » read more

Data Boom Puts Pressure On NoCs, Fabrics
By Liz Allan - 26 Mar, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: NoC challenges, such as wiring congestion, timing closure, and performance, must be considered in tandem with topology and placement. Topologies can be customized to meet an application’s specific data flow needs, with a system containing multiple topologies to suit different data or zones. What is challenging for one type of system, such as an SoC, switch, or AI chi... » read more

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