Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 20
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Batman chips The demand for faster and higher-density storage has prompted researchers to look for ways to control the magnetic states of tiny magnets. Seeking to improve the magnetic recording speeds and spatial resolutions in structures, Radboud University and others attempted to switch the magnetization in microstructures by using a femtosecond laser pulse. The laser light did not switch... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 20
By Ann Mutschler - 20 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Boosting silicon solar cells According to Stanford researchers, stacking crystalline perovskites onto a conventional silicon solar cell dramatically improves the overall efficiency of the cell. The researchers reminded that silicon solar cells dominate the world market, but the power conversion efficiency of silicon photovoltaics has been stuck at 25 percent for 15 years. One inexpensive wa... » read more

Tech Talk: Set-Top Power
By Ed Sperling - 19 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Broadcom's John Redmond, associate technical director for digital video technology, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about what the next-generation set-top boxes will look like and how they will save power. The video was shot at Cadence's Low Power Summit. [youtube vid=Ov2GFrUTzts] » read more

Productivity And The IoT
By Ann Mutschler - 19 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

The market for devices that connect almost everything to the 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 Cadence; Bill Neifert, CTO at Carbon; Marc Evans, direct... » read more

EDA Up, Japan Continues To Slide
By Ed Sperling - 16 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

EDA numbers grew 5.7% in the third quarter, propelled by demand for PCB tools in the booming automotive market and IP sales around the globe, according to the latest statistics from the EDA Consortium. The classic EDA tools business was down slightly for the quarter, but PCB tools jumped 9.7%. "There are new capabilities for packaging and wiring for automotive," said Wally Rhines, board ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Historically, there has been a good correlation between oil prices and worldwide GDP growth, with lower prices correlating to stronger future growth. Given the current forecast for the price of oil in 2015, IC Insights expects oil prices to once again be a “tailwind” for worldwide GDP growth. Intel posted its sales and earnings for the fourth quarter. In 2015, Intel projects that its cap... » read more

Week 32: So Many Good Proposals
By Anne Cirkel - 16 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

On Monday we had our marathon conference call to review all invited content – that is, special sessions in EDA, embedded, automotive, and security, as well as panels and tutorials. Wow! I was blown away, and it seems we must have a record year for submitted content. I counted 27 submissions just for tutorials, a niche part of DAC (though an important one at that). There is a DAC record for em... » read more

Higher Frequencies Mean More Memory
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

As SoCs get more complex, whether due to higher frequencies or adding more functionality, there is a spillover effect on bandwidth, [getkc id="22" kc_name="memory"] and power. There is no simple way to just turn up the clock frequency in a complex [getkc id="81" kc_name="SoC"]. That relatively straightforward objective will likely require more power domains, more cores, more ways to move sig... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT
By Ed Sperling - 16 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Mergers & Acquisitions Mentor Graphics bought [getentity id="22268" e_name="Flexras Technologies"] for an undisclosed sum. Flexras, based in France, makes FPGA-based prototyping tools. The company was founded in 2009. Deals Sonics won a deal with Toshiba, which is using Sonics' on-chip network technologies and services for application processors targeted at smart appliances, industrial... » read more

Low Power Everything
By Ed Sperling - 15 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

A decade ago, former International Rectifier CEO Alex Lidow pronounced that there were three main categories for saving energy on a mass scale—variable speed motors, fluorescent lighting, and more efficient servers. He was right at the time. Those weren't necessarily semiconductor-driven markets, but they were the place where the most power could be saved. In fact, at the time, the rough e... » read more

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