category: Blogs – MD

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

Industry Leaders See a Promising but Challenging Future
By Tom Morrow - 04 Aug, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Tom Morrow “The challenge with all these technologies is that we cannot decouple them from the economics,” said Rick Wallace, president and CEO of KLA-Tencor during the annual Executive Summit at SEMICON West. While aligning the economics of new production technologies such as EUV, III-V materials, FinFETS, and 450 mm wafers have yet to be fully worked out, the insatiable appetite for... » read more

Study Shows FD-SOI Most Cost-Effective Approach at 22nm
By Various Writers - 02 Aug, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Adele Hars What are you doing at 22nm? The debate is raging in the press and forums alike. Now research firm IC Knowledge has issued a report showing that from a straight cost perspective, planar FD-SOI is a better choice than bulk. We’ve known for a while that sticking with bulk at the 22nm node would get pretty complicated. This study shows just how complicated bulk will be: abou... » read more

Printed electronics for RFID’s make progress
By Michael Watts - 30 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

The news that a printed electronics startup, Kovio, had received new round of funding prompted further thoughts on exactly where printed electronics will pay off. Kovio raised $15 million to pursue Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID devices. NFC’s claim to fame is that it supports communication by touch. One of the most talked about applications for NFC is to use a cell phone as a credit ... » read more

Debugging Double Patterning without Getting Double Vision
By David Abercrombie - 27 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 1

By David Abercrombie Given that my last couple of blogs on double patterning (DP) might have scared you to death, I figured it was time to bring you some good news. It is unavoidably true that double patterning layout constraints at 20nm and below are going to require changes in all aspects of the design flow, but Mentor Graphics (and, I am sure, the rest of the EDA industry) is working very... » read more

Is EUV the SST of Lithography?
By Chris Mack - 26 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

Analogies with Moore’s Law abound. Virtually any trend looks linear on a log-linear plot if the time period is short enough. Some people hopefully compare their industry’s recent history to Moore’s Law, wishfully predicting future success with the air of inevitability that is usually attached to Moore’s Law. Others look to some past trend in the hopes of understanding the future of M... » read more

A Solution to the 450mm Equipment Problem?
By Joanne Itow - 19 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Joanne Itow Another SEMICON West has come and gone. This was a good year. Although there are signs that things have slowed a bit, the general outlook was positive. In addition to the need for more semiconductor capacity due to continued growth in tablets, cell phones and a host of other electronic applications, the increased complexity of advanced processes has created a positive outlook... » read more

IC Packaging Innovation Increasingly Replacing Moore’s Law in Mobile Electronics Competition
By Tom Morrow - 13 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Tom Morrow Smart phones, tablets, e-readers and other mobile applications are increasingly replacing PCs as the key drivers of the semiconductor industry. Consequently, IC packaging innovations that deliver high performance applications in a low-profile, low-cost, and low power design are competing with next node processing technologies as the critical platform for competition in the mobi... » read more

New Wii U™ on SOI
By Various Writers - 08 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Adele Hars If you've followed the industry buzz in recent weeks, you've seen the news: the CPU for Nintendo's upcoming (and very cool) Wii U is on IBM's 45nm SOI. IBM's been fabbing chips for Nintendo for over a decade, and first moved the company's CPUs to SOI in 2006, at 90nm. The Wii U, which got its debut at the recent E3 show, will hit the shelves in 2012. The Wii U combines m... » read more

A Smart Filling Solution Yields Multiple Benefits
By Mentor Graphics Staff Writers - 01 Jul, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Jeff Wilson, A return on investment doesn’t happen until customers actually buy your product, so the most fundamental goal for designers is getting their designs to market. While there are numerous steps along the way, one task that must be performed is adding fill to the design. Fill is like design rule checking (DRC)—it’s not an optional step, because it is needed to ensure the manu... » read more

Wafer Demand Outpaces Semiconductor Unit Growth in 2011
By Joanne Itow - 28 Jun, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Joanne Itow Semiconductor unit sales remain strong and are expected to reach 718 billion in 2011, an 8.6% growth over 2010. Unit sales are driving wafer demand at both advanced and mature fabs. Total silicon demand is expected to grow by 10% in 2011. In the first quarter of 2011, semiconductor unit sales increased 1.3% over Q4 2010, reflecting an unusually healthy growth compared to the ... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →

  • Sponsors

About

Navigation

Connect With Us

Copyright ©2013-2025 SMG   |  Terms of Service  |  Privacy Policy