Packaging Technology Needs Of Automotive Radar Sensors Chips


Automotive radar systems are typically composed of an antenna, front-end radar sensor and back-end signal processor. Current state-of-the-art automotive radar systems make use of the latest integrated circuit and a wide range of packaging technologies. Let’s look a bit further into the development of automotive radar sensor chips and the packaging technologies being used as solutions for this... » read more

Micron D1α, The Most Advanced Node Yet On DRAM


Finally, we got to see D1α DRAM generation! It’s 14nm! After a quick viewing of the Micron D1α die (die markings: Z41C) and its cell design, we have determined its actual technology node (design rule), in contrast to the claims of market literature. It is the most advanced technology node ever on DRAM, and it is the first sub-15nm cell integrated DRAM product. The Micron Z41C die removed... » read more

Using Less Helium In Semiconductor Manufacturing


Helium gas is increasingly in short supply. While consumers may be most familiar with it for use in filling balloons, it is used much more heavily in a variety of industrial processes – including semiconductor fabrication. As a result of supply concerns, many companies, including Lam, are looking for ways to reduce their helium usage. The making of a semiconductor chip involv... » read more

Accelerating 5G Baseband With Adaptive SoCs


5G new radio (NR) network specifications demand new architectures for radio and access networks. While the 5G NR architecture includes new spectrum and massive MIMO (mMIMO) antennas, corresponding access networks architecture must also evolve to implement the services defined by 5G, which include enhanced Mobile Broadband, Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications and massive Machine Type Commu... » read more

Automotive Innovations In Semiconductors


By Jeff Barnum, Janay Camp, and Cathy Perry Sullivan The semiconductor industry performed better than expected in 2020 despite the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and is preparing for accelerated growth in 2021 and beyond. The global coronavirus pandemic significantly increased demand for communications electronics and fueled the growth in cloud computing to support remote work and ... » read more

Benefits Of SiC For String Inverters


SiC MOSFETs in solar and energy storage applications have clear benefits compared to silicon technologies, addressing the pressing need for energy and cost savings, particularly when bidirectional power conversion is required. Ease of installation is one of the key features of high-power solar string inverters. It is beneficial if only two workers are needed to carry and install the system.... » read more

Packetized Scan Test Delivery


The traditional approach to moving scan test data from chip-level pins to core-level scan channels is under pressure due to the dramatic rise in design size, design complexity, and test adaptation. To address these challenges, we now have the option of implementing a packetized data network for scan test that moves the scan data through the SoC much more efficiently than the traditional pin-... » read more

Challenges Of Edge AI Inference


Bringing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to your industry—whether it be medical imaging, robotics, or some other vision application entirely—has the potential to enable new functionalities and reduce the compute requirements for existing workloads. This is because a single CNN can replace more computationally expensive image processing, denoising, and object detection algorithms. Howev... » read more

An Introduction To Domain-Specific Accelerators


After 50 years, Moore’s Law, Dennard Scaling, and Amdahl’s Law are failing. The semiconductor industry much change, and processor paradigms must change with it. So what exactly are domain-specific accelerators and why are they so important in light of the failure of these semiconductor scaling laws? » read more

More Fabs Seen In Chip Boom


Over the last year, the semiconductor industry has seen an amazing turnaround. The industry happens to be in a boom cycle. Today, chip demand remains strong. And some fab projects have been accelerated to meet this demand, according to Christian Dieseldorff, an analyst at SEMI. It wasn’t always this way. In early 2020, the business looked bright, but the IC market dropped amid the Covid... » read more

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