Near-Threshold Computing Gets A Boost


Near-threshold computing has long been used for power-sensitive devices, but some surprising, unrelated advances are making it much easier to deploy. While near-threshold logic has been an essential technique for applications with the lowest power consumption, it always has been difficult to use. That is changing, and while it is unlikely to become a mainstream technique, it is certainly bec... » read more

Telecare Challenges: Secure, Reliable, Lower Power


The adoption of telecare using a variety of connected digital devices is opening the door to much more rapid response to medical emergencies, as well as more consistent monitoring, but it also is adding new challenges involving connectivity, security, and power consumption. Telecare has been on the horizon for the better part of two decades, but it really began ramping with improvements in s... » read more

Heterogenous Integration Creating New IP Opportunities


The design IP market has long been known for constant change and evolution, but the industry trend toward heterogenous integration and chiplets is creating some new challenges and opportunities. Companies wanting to stake out a claim in this area have to be nimble, because there will be many potential standards introduced, and they are likely to change quickly as the industry explores what is r... » read more

Using AI To Speed Up Edge Computing


AI is being designed into a growing number of chips and systems at the edge, where it is being used to speed up the processing of massive amounts of data, and to reduce power by partitioning and prioritization. That, in turn, allows systems to act upon that data more rapidly. Processing data at the edge rather than in the cloud provides a number of well-documented benefits. Because the physi... » read more

Data Management Evolves


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss data management challenges with Jerome Toublanc, business development executive at Ansys; Kam Kittrell, vice president of product management in the Digital & Signoff Group at Cadence; Simon Rance, vice president of marketing at Cliosoft; Rob Conant, vice president of software and ecosystem at Infineon Technologies; and Michael Munsey, senior dir... » read more

Startup Funding: June 2022


Big money went to manufacturing in June, with a massive round for a Chinese analog foundry’s expansion to 55 – 40nm nodes. A fab management software startup also drew sizeable investment, as did a supplier of semiconductor-grade silicon components. Investors didn’t forget chip design, with three EDA companies receiving new funding, one of which drew over $100 million. Plus, numerous te... » read more

Power Domain Implementation Challenges Escalate


The number power domains is rising as chip architects build finer-grained control into chips and systems, adding significantly to the complexity of the overall design effort. Different power domains are an essential ingredient in partitioning of different functions. This approach allows different chips in a package, and different blocks in an SoC, to continue running with just enough power t... » read more

Can Analog Make A Comeback?


We live in an analog world dominated by digital processing, but that could change. Domain specificity, and the desire for greater levels of optimization, may provide analog compute with some significant advantages — and the possibility of a comeback. For the last four decades, the advantages of digital scaling and flexibility have pushed the dividing line between analog and digital closer ... » read more

DRAM Thermal Issues Reach Crisis Point


Within the DRAM world, thermal issues are at a crisis point. At 14nm and below, and in the most advanced packaging schemes, an entirely new metric may be needed to address the multiplier effect of how thermal density increasingly turns minor issues into major problems. A few overheated transistors may not greatly affect reliability, but the heat generated from a few billion transistors does.... » read more

IP Industry Transformation


The design IP industry is developing an assortment of new options and licensing schemes that could affect everything from how semiconductor companies collaborate to how ICs are designed, packaged, and brought to market. The IP market already has witnessed a sweeping shift from a "design once, use everywhere" approach, to an "architect once, customize everywhere" model, in which IP is highly ... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →