What’s Next With AI In Fabs?

By Mark LaPedus - 22 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the issues and challenges with machine learning in semiconductor manufacturing with Kurt Ronse, director of the advanced lithography program at Imec; Yudong Hao, senior director of marketing at Onto Innovation; Romain Roux, data scientist at Mycronic; and Aki Fujimura, chief executive of D2S. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. Part one ... » read more

Blog Review: April 22

By Jesse Allen - 22 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Mentor's Shivani Joshi takes a look at the benefits of adding ground planes in PCB design to improve signal integrity and reduce electrical noise and interference. Cadence's Paul McLellan points to the gradual adoption of 3D packaged systems, the role of mobile in driving adoption, and the rise of chiplets. Synopsys' Taylor Armerding shares some tips for productive remote teamwork from th... » read more

Trust Assurance And Security Verification of Semiconductor IPs And ICs

By OneSpin Solutions - 22 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Connected autonomous vehicles, 5G networks, Internet-of-things (IoT) devices, defense systems, and critical infrastructure use ASIC and FPGA SoCs running artificial intelligence algorithms or other complex software stacks. Vulnerable or tampered ICs can compromise the safety of people and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive information. This paper analyzes the trust... » read more

Benefits Of In-Chip Thermal Sensing

By Richard McPartland - 22 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

The latest SoCs on advanced semiconductor nodes typically include a fabric of sensors spread across the die, and for good reason. But why and what are the benefits? This first blog of a three-part series explores some of the key applications for in-chip thermal sensing and why embedding in-chip monitoring IP is an essential step to maximize performance and reliability and minimize power, or a... » read more

DDR PHY Training

By Ed Sperling - 21 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Brett Murdock, senior product marketing manager at Synopsys, explains how to train the DRAM physical layer using firmware, why that is so important for flexibility, and what kinds of issues engineers encounter when using this approach. » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 21

By Mark LaPedus - 21 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Memristors reappear The University of Massachusetts Amherst has taken a step towards of the realization of neuromorphic computing--it has devised bio-voltage memristors based on protein nanowires. In neuromorphic computing, the idea is to bring the memory closer to the processing tasks to speed up a system. For this, the industry is attempting to replicate the brain in silicon. The goal is ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: April 21

By Jesse Allen - 21 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Focus-free lens Researchers from the University of Utah developed a new lens that doesn't require focusing. They present it as an alternative to the multiple lenses common in smartphone cameras. "Our flat lenses can drastically reduce the weight, complexity and cost of cameras and other imaging systems, while increasing their functionality," said research team leader Rajesh Menon from the U... » read more

Identifying And Preventing Process Failures At 7nm

By Qingpeng Wang - 20 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Device yield is highly dependent upon proper process targeting and variation control of fabrication steps, particularly at advanced nodes with smaller feature sizes. Traditionally, cross-correlation and analysis of thousands of test data points have been required to identify and prevent process failures. This is very costly in terms of both time and money. Fortunately, semiconductor virtual fab... » read more

Scaling CMOS Image Sensors

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 5

After a period of record growth, the CMOS image sensor market is beginning to face some new and unforeseen challenges. CMOS image sensors provide the camera functions in smartphones and other products, but now they are facing scaling and related manufacturing issues in the fab. And like all chip products, image sensors are seeing slower growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. Manufactured a... » read more

Security From The Ground Up

By Thomas Ensergueix - 17 Apr, 2020 - Comments: 0

Silicon and system design are complex and costly enough in the ultra-deep sub-micron era. Now factor in security. Virtually every end application requires some level of security, and, as the cybersecurity threat rises, the importance and value of trust and assurance rises as well. This is even more evident in “high-security” use cases such as smart cards used to enter buildings, SIM card... » read more

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