category: Editor’s Note

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

3 Big Bottlenecks For Design
By Ed Sperling - 09 Oct, 2014 - Comments: 0

Throughout the history of design for ICs, systems and software, bottlenecks emerge as one part of the design evolves more slowly than the next. It's frequently due to the fact that difficult engineering issues haven't been solved yet in one part of the design. Sometimes they can't be solved in a reasonable amount of time or for a reasonable amount of money and something else has to take its pla... » read more

Apple Legitimizes The IoT
By Ed Sperling - 11 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 0

There have been plenty of reviews this week about the new iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch, both of which are either extremely cool or ho-hum, depending upon the disposition of the reviewer. But what’s really significant about all of this has nothing to do with the device. It’s a follow-the-money innovation. What made the iPod, and singlehandedly resurrected Apple’s reputation, wasn’t th... » read more

Improving 2.5D Components
By Ed Sperling - 07 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 1

A lot of attention is being focused on improving designs at established, well-tested nodes where processes are mature, yields are high, and costs are under control. So what does this mean to stacking die? For 2.5D architectures, plenty. For 3D, probably not much. Here’s why: The advantage of 2.5D is that it can utilize dies created at whatever node makes sense. While the initial discuss... » read more

Confusion Does Not Equal Paralysis
By Ed Sperling - 10 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

After attending the two biggest semiconductor conferences in the world, along with a long list of notable conferences targeted to a wide variety of technologies and engineering disciplines, it’s clear the industry is racing ahead. But “ahead” is now a relative term. While Moore’s Law satisfied both economic and technological requirements, it was easy to figure out what “ahead” me... » read more

Money, Hackers And Lawyers
By Ed Sperling - 12 Jun, 2014 - Comments: 0

When magnetic tape backup was introduced in the early 1950s, it was stored in vaults. Access was slow. Someone actually had to go get the tape, load it onto a mainframe computer, and start the spool rolling. But at least you could be sure that, minus a well-planned break-in or cloak-and-dagger theft, it would remain private. The latest push into cloud-based storage has altered the risk equat... » read more

FinFET Learning
By Ed Sperling - 08 May, 2014 - Comments: 0

FinFETs are not simple to work with. They’re difficult to manufacture, tricky to design, and they run the risk of greatly increased dynamic power density—particularly at 14/16nm, where extra margin is hard to justify—which affects everything from electromigration to signal integrity. Moreover, while finFETs have been on the drawing board for more than a decade, it’s taken four years ... » read more

The Denial Phase Is Over
By Ed Sperling - 10 Apr, 2014 - Comments: 0

For the last seven years—roughly since Apple first introduced the iPhone—the focus on power has become very real. In the past few years, that focus has shifted from power—how energy is used over time—to energy efficiency. This is more than just hair-splitting. It represents a fundamental and strategic shift for how SoCs and processors are architected, implemented and manufactured. ... » read more

Power Shift
By Ed Sperling - 13 Mar, 2014 - Comments: 1

The disaggregation of the mobile market, which began with Nokia, Ericsson and RIM challenging the entrenched position of Motorola back in the late 1990s, is shifting again. This time it’s being driven by a different kind of power play, namely physical power issues inside a device. The biggest problem in shrinking die and pushing economies of scale in conjunction with Moore’s Law is relat... » read more

Can We Ever Agree On Moore’s Law?
By Ed Sperling - 13 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

Nearly five decades after Moore’s Law was first introduced—the famous observation turns 50 next year—we’re still debating it. There are disagreements about whether it was an economic or technology statement. There are questions about whether it was really every 24 months or every 18 months—it was actually both. And there are questions about which companies it really applied to and who... » read more

Power Vs. Policy
By Ed Sperling - 16 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

A trip to this year’s auto show in San Jose, Calif., was an interesting contrast to what’s being shown at CES. While there are a number of new cars hitting the market this year with greatly improved gas efficiency—notably from BMW, Honda, Chevrolet and even Cadillac—the vast majority of cars still list efficiency ratings of 30mpg or less. The flashiest cars remain in the teen range, wit... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →

  • Sponsors

About

Navigation

Connect With Us

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