Leveraging Data In Chipmaking


John Kibarian, president and CEO of PDF Solutions, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about the impact of data analytics on everything from yield and reliability to the inner structure of organizations, how the cloud and edge will work together, and where the big threats are in the future. SE: When did you recognize that data would be so critical to hardware design and manufact... » read more

Simplifying Silicon Bring-Up And Debug On ATE equipment With ATE-Connect


The silicon bring-up process is ripe for improvement. Tessent SiliconInsight with ATE-Connect technology eliminates communication barriers between proprietary tester-specific software and DFT platforms, which accelerates debug of IJTAG devices, speeds product ramps, and reduces time-to-market for products in 5G wireless communications, autonomous driving, and artificial intelligence. Read mo... » read more

The 3 Main Obstacles To Zero DPPM And How To Overcome Them


As we all well know, there are multiple mission critical applications in today’s “Age of Smart,” that are calling for zero DPPM (defective parts per million) in semiconductors and electronic systems. In industries such as automotive, medical, aerospace, and more, where lives are at stake, defective parts are not an option. The quality imperative However, with the ever-growing complexity o... » read more

October ’19 Startup Funding: Mega Harvest


Seventeen startups took in mega-rounds of $100 million or more during October, with a cumulative total of just over $3.2 billion. Cybersecurity startups continued to be popular with private investors during the month of October, with 15 financing rounds. Twenty automotive and mobility technology firms picked up new investments. Analytics firms, artificial intelligence/machine learning techno... » read more

CT Scanning Baseballs


Climate change, manufacturing tolerances or design changes? What caused so many more home runs in professional baseball this year? CyberOptics will not be able to help you learn how climate change affected the home run statistics this year, but utilizing 3D industrial CT scanning could help identify changes in baseball design and manufacturing which may have contributed to a record spike in hom... » read more

Selecting an Approach to Build Flexible, Cost-Effective ECU Production Test Systems


Electronic control units (ECUs) were invented in the 1970s. At that time, people needed to improve fuel economy due to the oil crisis, which meant finding a way to make engines run cleaner and pollute less. Engines used a mechanical device called a distributor to control spark timing and a carburetor to control the fuel mixture. This mechanical system had minimal tuning and adjustment capabilit... » read more

Understanding Side Channel Attacks


Side channel attacks (SCAs) differ considerably from conventional cryptographic attacks. Essentially, side channel attacks – which can be very low-cost and non-invasive – exploit data gathered from side channels. A side channel can be exploited by simply placing an antenna, magnetic probe, or other sensor near a device or system. This allows an attacker to measure power consumption, voltage... » read more

How 5G Affects Test


David Hall, head of semiconductor marketing at National Instruments, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about architectural changes to infrastructure due to the rollout of 5G and how the move from macrocells to small cells is changing test requirements.         Subscribe to Semiconductor Engineering's YouTube Channel here » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 11


Smaller DACs and ADCs Researchers at the National University of Singapore invented a novel class of Digital-to-Analog (DAC) and Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) that use a fully-digital architecture. This digital architecture means design time for sensor interfaces can be reduced from months to hours with a fully-automated digital design methodology, the team said. It also has the benefit... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers The IC industry once had several leading-edge vendors that invested and built new fabs. But over time, the field has narrowed due to soaring costs and a dwindling customer base. In 1994, the share of semiconductor industry capital spending held by the top five companies was 25%, according to IC Insights. This meant that a number of companies invested and built new fabs during the... » read more

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