category: What Were They Thinking

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

DoD Scratches Its Head Over Foundry Security
By Brian Bailey - 25 Jun, 2015 - Comments: 1

When the GlobalFoundries deal with IBM to acquire its foundries closes, as it is slated to sometime during 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense has a small problem on its hands. Military programs no longer will have access to a trusted fab to manufacture semiconductors. How do you ensure that the foundry did not modify or alter your design, add backdoor access or implement a remote control mech... » read more

DAC 2015: Day 5
By Brian Bailey - 12 Jun, 2015 - Comments: 0

I feel like the last man standing. The show floor is closed, most of the industry folks have gone and the other press is nowhere to be seen. The good news is that we are still here to cover the events of DAC and to bring you the whole show. The morning starts with a keynote entitled "Electronics for the Human Body." John Rogers from Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign talked about the mismatc... » read more

DAC 2015: Day 4
By Brian Bailey - 11 Jun, 2015 - Comments: 0

Are you ready for the self-driving car? Threats come from other cars – not necessarily hitting you but hacking you. Day four of DAC started with a keynote panel moderated by John McElroy of Blue Sky Productions and panelists included Jeff Massimilla from General Motors and Craig Smith from Theia Labs/OpenGarages.org/IATC. "What would happen if cars started picking up viruses," asked Anne C... » read more

Rethinking Patents
By Brian Bailey - 28 May, 2015 - Comments: 0

Over the past few years the pressure on the patent system as a means of protecting intellectual property has been tested to the limit, and many changes are being made in an attempt to keep it viable. But in an age of globalization, coupled with the fact that for the patent system to work there has to be an infrastructure of suitable enforcement, it may be time to rethink its viability—especia... » read more

Less Moore Means More Intelligence
By Brian Bailey - 23 Apr, 2015 - Comments: 3

It would seem as if the entire industry is flooding the forums with articles about [getkc id="74" comment="Moore's Law"], as it reaches its 50th birthday (April 19th) and that this represents the longest and most important exponential in the history of man. The numbers and that impact are everywhere and I do not intend to repeat them. There are lots of articles talking about when Moore’s law ... » read more

Patents And EDA Making Waves
By Brian Bailey - 26 Mar, 2015 - Comments: 0

If the old adage “may you live in interesting times” is true, then lawyers must be wondering if they should be very happy or scared. The rate at which [getkc id="16" comment="patent"] law, and patents in general, are changing should give everyone pause – including the future competitiveness of the United States and the value of patents to EDA. The World Intellectual Property Organizati... » read more

Feathers Ruffled By IEEE Patent License Changes
By Brian Bailey - 26 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Standards are essential for any market to grow. Products that are completely proprietary tend to serve small niche markets whereas those based on standards can grow through collaborations, independent content creation, and many other ways. Just think about where we would be if there were no communications standards – no WiFi, no cellular standards. You would be locked into buying all of your ... » read more

The Danger of Using Patents
By Brian Bailey - 23 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 2

As I have written about recently, [getkc id="30" kc_name="emulation"] is a hot topic for EDA and the number and length of lawsuits related to the technology is almost overwhelming. The latest phase has just concluded with a summary judgment against [getentity id="22035" e_name="Synopsys"] on Jan. 20. It all started in late 2012 when Synopsys, which had just acquired [getentity id="22738" e_nam... » read more

And the Winner is…
By Brian Bailey - 18 Dec, 2014 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering now has its first full year under its belt, and I have to say it has been an incredible year. Not only did we exceed a million page views in our first year, but we also got started on the Knowledge Center, an endeavor the likes of which has never been attempted in our industry. It is still very young and has a lot of growing up to do, but it is a wonderful start. We wo... » read more

Standard Time And The Day Of Two Noons
By Brian Bailey - 20 Nov, 2014 - Comments: 2

Many of you know that I have a kind of fascination with dates, times and the way they have changed over time. Everyone measured time by using the sun 150 years ago, and while this may not have been highly accurate – well, who cared? Farmers got up when the sun rose and did their stuff until the sun set. Most people had no need for time and the idea of a watch would have been..well…untimely.... » read more

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