Toward Better Acoustic Resonators


After some lively conversations with the top researchers in MEMS acoustic resonators during the 2014 Sensors and Actuators Workshop (familiarly known to the MEMS community as “Hilton Head”), we set to work on a simulation solution to better serve researchers and commercial designers. Acoustic resonators for RF filtering have received a lot of attention in the past few years as the number... » read more

Pattern Matching in Design and Verification


Pattern matching (PM) was first introduced as the semiconductor industry began to shift from simple one-dimensional rule checks to the two-dimensional checks required by sub-resolution lithography. These rule checks proved far more complex to write, hard to code for fast runtimes, and difficult to debug. Incorporating an automated visual capture and compare process enabled designers to define t... » read more

What’s The Outlook For ICs?


As the semiconductor industry heads into the second half of 2016, it’s time to take the pulse of the IC sector. Based on the current signs, there’s a faint pulse, if that. Simply put, the IC market has been in the doldrums in the first half of 2016. And it looks sluggish heading into the second half. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. At the beginning of this year, many predicte... » read more

Russian Market Overview


By Evgeny Suvorov The Russian market has turned towards the Internet of Things (IoT), with several projects underway, particularly in the areas of agriculture and mining. The largest of these projects have been initiated and backed by the state.  The most striking example is probably the introduction of the "Platon" system, an IoT-based road levy collection system comprised of on-board unit... » read more

Wafer Shortage? Reality Versus Perception


The promise of explosive growth associated with IoT has semiconductor unit forecasts growing at double-digit rates for key product categories. Anything with the word ‘sensors’ seems to be in vogue today. Sensors, image sensors, sensor hubs are all expected to benefit from the billions of connected devices that are forecasted to be in place by 2020. Semico agrees. Unit growth for key product... » read more

The Big Race


An estimated 74.39 million automobiles are forecast to be sold this year, according to Statista. That's up about 2.8% over 2015, which on the surface doesn't look like fabulous growth. What isn't apparent in the numbers, though, is the amount and type of semiconductor content. Electronic control units, which are primarily driven by MCUs, increasingly are being replaced by SoCs. Automotive co... » read more

Cadence CDNLive Keynote Address: Thoughts and Implications


I attended the Cadence CDNLive conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center on April 5 and 6 and had a chance to listen to four very thought-provoking presentations given by the speakers. These presentations were combined to follow the keynote address given by Cadence CEO, Lip-Bu Tan and addressed several different aspects of the current semiconductor industry landscape. Speakers Lip-... » read more

The Future Of MEMS Sensor Design And Manufacturing


I recently gave an invited talk at the IEEE Inertial Sensors 2016 symposium that discussed the future of commodity MEMS inertial sensor design and manufacturing. Inertial sensors comprise one of the fastest growing and most successful segments of the MEMS market. There are three industry trends that I believe will have major implications for motion sensor design and manufacturing and, more g... » read more

Insider’s Guide To Fab Technology


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss fab technology with Matt Paggi, vice president of advanced technology development at GlobalFoundries. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What’s driving demand for semiconductors today? Paggi: You are aware of what the worldwide semiconductor revenue growth is this year. There are peaks and valleys in the worldwide semiconduc... » read more

2015: A Year In Review


Semiconductor Market Trends Semiconductor revenues were essentially flat in 2015 when compared to 2014 levels according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). The materials market mirrored the device market, while the equipment market contracted 3%. The semiconductor equipment market typically receives more attention than the materials market, however, and the materials market has... » read more

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