Blockchain Technology Is Coming To An Application Near You


Throughout the history of the semiconductor industry, disruptive IC technologies have been brainstormed and developed by innovative thinkers, offered up for global consideration through technical papers and conferences, discussed and scrutinized, put to the test at alpha and beta sites, and – once proven – adopted for widespread use. The path is similar for inventive applications. Blockc... » read more

Domain Expertise Becoming Essential For Analytics


Sensors are being added into everything, from end devices to the equipment used to make those sensors, but the data being generated has limited or no value unless it's accompanied by domain expertise. There are two main problems. One is how and where to process the vast amount of data being generated. Chip and system architectures are being revamped to pre-process more of that data closer to... » read more

Shedding Pounds In Automotive Electronics


Weight is emerging as a key concern for carmakers as more electronic circuitry is added into vehicles that are either fully or partially powered by batteries. As a result, chipmakers and OEMs are exploring alternative substrate materials, different types of sensor fusion, and new ways to reduce the number of wires. Adding pounds reduces driving range for electric or hybrid vehicles. The auto... » read more

The Basics of Amplitude Modulation


Modulation is the process of varying a higher frequency carrier wave to transmit information. Though it is theoretically possible to transmit baseband signals (or information) without modulating it, it is far more efficient to send data by modulating it onto a higher frequency "carrier wave." Higher frequency waves require smaller antennas, use the available bandwidth more efficiently, and are ... » read more

Using Sensor Data To Improve Yield And Uptime


Semiconductor equipment vendors are starting to add more sensors into their tools in an effort to improve fab uptime and wafer yield, and to reduce cost of ownership and chip failures. Massive amounts of data gleaned from those tools is expected to provide far more detail than in the past about multiple types and sources of variation, including when and where that variation occurred and how,... » read more

Comparative Stochastic Process Variation Bands For N7, N5, And N3 At EUV


By Alessandro Vaglio Preta, Trey Gravesa, David Blankenshipa, Kunlun Baib, Stewart Robertsona, Peter De Bisschopc, John J. Biaforea a) KLA-Tencor Corporation, Austin, TX 78759, U.S.A. b) KLA-Tencor Corporation, Milpitas, CA 95035, U.S.A. c) IMEC, Kapeldreef 75, 3000, BE ABSTRACT Stochastics effects are the ultimate limiter of optical lithography technology and are a major concern for n... » read more

Anticipating And Addressing 5G Testing Challenges


It’s no surprise that each new generation of ICs raises new sets of challenges in device testing. Changes in pin counts, data-transfer rates and interface protocols present different requirements. With the coming fifth generation (5G) of semiconductor technology, producers of automatic test equipment (ATE) must develop new test solutions with advanced capabilities on several fronts. Perhap... » read more

Using Data Analytics More Effectively


The semiconductor industry is under a lot of pressure from their customers nowadays. They’re expected to keep up with consumer expectations for shorter electronic product life cycles, without compromising on the reliability and quality of the components and products coming off the line. A recent article from McKinsey & Company, however, describes how quality procedures have become a bottl... » read more

The Paradox Of Automotive Electronics


There is a huge problem brewing in the automotive world. Automakers are demanding quality parts, but they're using methods and strategies developed in the steel age when suppliers were metal benders, not developers of advanced electronics. Automakers are correct in that the quality of electronics is poor. A 2018 report by J.D. Power showed that overall car reliability is improving year over ... » read more

What’s For Dinner?


Robots, as currently implemented, don’t do well in uncontrolled environments. In factories and warehouses, they are fenced off by yellow safety tape, doing highly repetitive and predictable tasks. When deployed to monitor parks and malls, they are easily thwarted by malicious humans and even unexpected landscape features. Yet robots able to assist elderly and disabled people will be genuin... » read more

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