category: Piecing It Together

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

New Math
By Ed Sperling - 18 Oct, 2012 - Comments: 0

It was nice when we had round numbers to work with. It was pretty simple to move from 180nm to 120nm and then to 90nm. Then the half nodes started—45/40, 32/28 and 22/20nm. After 14nm we are poised dangerously over the single-digit process nodes. Intel is working on 10nm, to be followed by 7nm or 5nm. Other companies are looking at 11nm, to be followed by 8nm, 6nm or something even further... » read more

Testing One, Two, Three
By Ed Sperling - 20 Sep, 2012 - Comments: 0

The sheer number of off-the-shelf parts that are showing up in ICs these days—and that includes both hard and soft parts—means that to a large extent we are designing and manufacturing a series of interconnected black boxes. Black boxes, at least in theory, are a major time saver. The idea that you can put together a series of well-designed, state-of-the-art Lego-like blocks that are pro... » read more

Preparing For Change
By Ed Sperling - 16 Aug, 2012 - Comments: 0

Throw out the most optimistic and the most pessimistic predictions about the future of the foundry model and you probably arrive at a reasonable approximation of how things will actually play out. It's clear that the number of customers at the front end of process technology will shrink after 20nm. It simply costs too much to design and manufacture a chip, and there aren’t enough markets c... » read more

Investment Options
By Ed Sperling - 31 Jul, 2012 - Comments: 0

It's clear that something fundamental has changed in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. What's less clear is how this will play out over the long term. Intel's agreement to invest more than $4 billion in ASML to ensure the continued development of EUV and 450mm wafer technology is more than just a one-off deal. It's a very public recognition that the astronomical cost of design and ma... » read more

Bucket Lists
By Ed Sperling - 26 Jun, 2012 - Comments: 0

At 130nm, the introduction of copper interconnects, 300mm wafers and low-k dielectrics left the entire supply chain breathless. There had never been as many changes at a single process node in the history of semiconductors. At 28nm, the number of changes will pale compared to what’s necessary at 20nm, and that will pale to what’s required at 14nm. But unlike 130nm, when most of those cha... » read more

Bigger Shifts Ahead
By Ed Sperling - 29 May, 2012 - Comments: 0

At 130nm the manufacturing portion of the semiconductor industry struggled with copper interconnects, 300mm wafers and immersion lithography. At 20nm and 14nm it will have to grapple with double, triple and possibly even quadruple patterning, new gate structures, the usual increases in process variation, far more expensive designs, complex challenges in attaining reasonable yields and in connec... » read more

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