category: Special Reports

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

Sorting Out Next-Gen Memory
By Mark LaPedus - 22 Sep, 2016 - Comments: 8

In the data center and related environments, high-end systems are struggling to keep pace with the growing demands in data processing. There are several bottlenecks in these systems, but one segment that continues to receive an inordinate amount of attention, if not part of the blame, is the memory and storage hierarchy. [getkc id="92" kc_name="SRAM"], the first tier of this hierarchy, is... » read more

Plugging Holes In Machine Learning
By Ed Sperling - 19 Sep, 2016 - Comments: 0

The number of companies using machine learning is accelerating, but so far there are no tools to validate, verify and debug these systems. That presents a problem for the chipmakers and systems companies that increasingly rely on machine learning to optimize their technology because, at least for now, it creates the potential for errors that are extremely difficult to trace and fix. At the s... » read more

Joint R&D Has Its Ups And Downs
By Jeff Dorsch - 07 Sep, 2016 - Comments: 0

As corporate spending on research and development dwindles, enterprises are reaching out to colleges and universities to supplement their R&D. And they often are finding eager partners in those endeavors, as professors and their graduate students look for help, financial and technical, in addressing long-term research projects. “Pure research is just a luxury no one can afford anymore,... » read more

What’s Missing From Machine Learning
By Ed Sperling - 01 Sep, 2016 - Comments: 1

Machine learning is everywhere. It's being used to optimize complex chips, balance power and performance inside of data centers, program robots, and to keep expensive electronics updated and operating. What's less obvious, though, is there are no commercially available tools to validate, verify and debug these systems once machines evolve beyond the final specification. The expectation is th... » read more

What Transistors Will Look Like At 5nm
By Mark LaPedus - 18 Aug, 2016 - Comments: 3

Chipmakers are currently ramping up 16nm/14nm finFET processes, with 10nm and 7nm just around the corner. The industry also is working on 5nm. TSMC hopes to deliver a 5nm process by 2020. GlobalFoundries, Intel and Samsung are doing R&D for that node. But 5nm technology presents a multitude of unknowns and challenges. For one thing, the exact timing and specs of 5nm remain cloudy. The... » read more

New Architectures, Approaches To Speed Up Chips
By Ed Sperling - 15 Aug, 2016 - Comments: 2

The need for speed is back. An explosion in the amount of data that needs to be collected and processed is driving a new wave of change in hardware, software and overall system design. After years of emphasizing power reduction, performance has re-emerged as a top concern in a variety of applications such as smarter cars, wearable devices and cloud data centers. But how to get there has cha... » read more

Reaching The Power Budget
By Ann Mutschler - 11 Aug, 2016 - Comments: 1

Everything related to power in chip design today is a big deal—and it’s just getting bigger. Meeting the power budget is becoming harder at each new node, but it's also becoming difficult in a number of new application areas at existing nodes. That's a big problem because [getkc id="108" kc_name="power"] is now considered a competitive advantage in many markets. It's also one of the most... » read more

Building Faster Chips
By Ed Sperling - 21 Jul, 2016 - Comments: 5

By Ed Sperling and Jeff Dorsch An explosion in IoT sensor data, the onset of deep learning and AI, and the commercial rollout of augmented and virtual reality are driving a renewed interest in performance as the key metric for semiconductor design. Throughout the past decade in which mobility/smartphone dominated chip design, power replaced performance as the top driver. Processors ha... » read more

Rethinking The Sensor
By Ed Sperling - 07 Jul, 2016 - Comments: 0

Sensor technology is beginning to change on a fundamental level as companies begin looking beyond a human’s five senses, on which early sensors were modeled, to what can be done with those sensors for specific applications. In some cases, [getkc id="187" kc_name="sensors"] don’t have to be as accurate as the sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing of a person. In others, they can be a... » read more

Will Open-Source Work For Chips?
By Brian Bailey - 30 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 2

Open source is getting a second look by the semiconductor industry, driven by the high cost of design at complex nodes along with fragmentation in end markets, which increasingly means that one size or approach no longer fits all. The open source movement, as we know it today, started in the 1980s with the launch of the GNU project, which was about the time the electronic design automation (... » read more

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