Dirty Data: Is the Sensor Malfunctioning?


Sensors provide an amazing connection to the physical world, but extracting usable data isn't so simple. In fact, many first-time IoT designers are unprepared for how messy a sensor’s data can be. Every day the IoT motion-sensor company MbientLab struggles to tactfully teach its customers that the mountain of data they are seeing is not because the sensors are faulty. Instead, the system d... » read more

The Next Materials Race


Trade wars are costly on many fronts, and a trade war between the United States and China is bound to cause a variety of problems that no one anticipated. But in some areas, there may be a silver lining. And where there is no silver lining available, other materials may suffice. For decades, big chipmakers have been squeezing the entire semiconductor supply chain in a race to double the num... » read more

5 Best Practices For Successfully Managing An ASIC Supply Chain


Managing an end-to-end ASIC supply chain is one of the primary challenges of chip projects. Not only is the process long and complex, but it involves multiple technologies, dependencies and stakeholders. In this paper, we've assembled five best practices to help you translate ASIC specifications into a final product through a smooth supply chain process, including: Avoid costly time-... » read more

Love and Affection in the Age of Robots


It is increasingly common to rely upon robotic devices to perform a wide range of tasks that were previously handled by humans. With robots becoming more pervasive in our lives, people are demonstrating a tendency to treat and relate to robot assistants as they would their pets and loved ones. We are beginning to project companion status on these mechanical tools. There is ample evidence tha... » read more

System-Level Testing – The New Paradigm for Semiconductor Quality Control


Covering the history and trends of system-level test for semiconductors, this solution brief discusses: The increasing complexities of testing advanced semiconductor integrated devices across a span of applications: automotive, mobile computing, wearables, and more; Semiconductor trends driving necessary shifts in testing methodologies including SiP, SoC, 3D finFETs, heterogeneous compo... » read more

Testing Millimeter Wave for 5G


By Susan Rambo and Ed Sperling The telecommunications world is hurtling toward 5G, but there is no consistency about how this next-gen wireless technology will be rolled out across various regions and plenty of unknowns about how it will be tested and how reliable it will be initially. A fair amount of confusion exists around what 5G constitutes in the first place. There is sub-6GHz 5G, w... » read more

Design, System Integration and Testing of Radar Systems


This article discusses some of the fundamental research and development challenges in both the digital and RF/millimeter wave domains (such as waveform generation, receiver algorithms and transmit/receive front ends) and addresses current and future directions in design, system integration and test. Radar applications are becoming more diverse and commercialization is accelerating due to sig... » read more

The Big Data Shift Has Started


Terry Brewer, president and CEO of Brewer Science, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about different priorities for private and public companies, why AI completely changes the game for technology companies, and what impact materials will have on innovation and design in the future. SE: What are the next big opportunities for Brewer Science? Brewer: There are broad opportunit... » read more

Using DSA With EUV


James Lamb, deputy CTO for advanced semiconductor manufacturing and corporate technical fellow at Brewer Science, looks at how directed self-assembly can be used to supplement EUV at advanced nodes. https://youtu.be/PItF4egHOxc     See other tech talk videos here » read more

Carmakers To Chipmakers: Where’s The Data?


The integration of electronics into increasingly autonomous vehicles isn't going nearly as smoothly as the marketing literature suggests. In fact, it could take years before some of these discrepancies are resolved. The push toward full autonomy certainly hasn't slowed down, but carmakers and the electronics industry are approaching that goal from very different vantage points. Carmakers and... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →