Adapting To Evolving IC Requirements

By Ed Sperling - 07 May, 2024 - Comments: 0

As chip designs become increasingly heterogeneous and domain-specific, packing a device with one-size-fits-all chips or chiplets doesn't make sense. The key is rightsizing different components based on real workloads, so they don't waste power when there is too little utilization of logic, and so they don't struggle to complete tasks because they are undersized. Jayson Bethurem, vice president ... » read more

Sensor Fusion Challenges In Automotive

By Ed Sperling - 02 May, 2024 - Comments: 0

The number of sensors in automobiles is growing rapidly alongside new safety features and increasing levels of autonomy. The challenge is integrating them in a way that makes sense, because these sensors are optimized for different types of data, sometimes with different resolution requirements even for the same type of data, and frequently with very different latency, power consumption, and re... » read more

Overlay Optimization In Advanced IC Substrates

By Ed Sperling - 29 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 1

Overlay is becoming a significant problem in the manufacturing of semiconductors, especially in the world of advanced packaging substrates — think panels — the larger the area, the greater the potential for distortion due to warpage. Solving this issue requires more accurate models, better communication through feed forward/feed back throughout the flow, and real-time analytics that are bak... » read more

Secure Movement Of Data In Test

By Ed Sperling - 16 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 0

Historically, test data flowed out of the tester and was loaded into a file. But with heterogeneous integration, including chiplets and IP from multiple vendors, test data is now being streamed across the manufacturing floor where it can be used to make real-time decisions. Eli Roth, product manager for smart manufacturing at Teradyne, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about challenges in da... » read more

Challenges With Chiplets And Power Delivery

By Ed Sperling - 15 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 0

Chiplets hold the potential to deliver the same PPA benefits as an SoC, but with many more features and options that are possible on a reticle-constrained die. If chiplets live up to the hype, they will deliver what is essentially mass customization, democratizing and speeding the delivery of complex chips across a broad array of markets. Today, the focus has been on die-to-die interfaces, but ... » read more

Challenges In RISC-V Verification

By Ed Sperling - 02 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 0

Designing a single-core RISC-V processor is relatively easy, but verifying it and debugging it is a different story. And it all becomes more complicated when multiple cores are involved, and when those cores need to be cache-coherent. Ashish Darbari, CEO of Axiomise, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about using assertions and formal verification technology to find bugs and prove coherency i... » read more

Cache Coherency In Heterogeneous Systems

By Ed Sperling - 01 Apr, 2024 - Comments: 0

Until recently, coherency was something normally associated with DRAM. But as chip designs become increasingly heterogeneous, incorporating more and different types of compute elements, it becomes harder to maintain coherency in that data without taking a significant hit on performance and power. The basic problem is that not all compute elements fetch and share data at the same speed, and syst... » read more

Rethinking Chip Economics

By Ed Sperling - 20 Mar, 2024 - Comments: 0

As process nodes shrink, so does the selection of chips developed at those nodes. Consumers demand more features and functionality, but that carries a high price tag in terms of both complexity and real dollars. In addition, because costs are skyrocketing, there is growing pressure for those chips to remain reliable and up-to-date for longer periods of time. Jayson Bethurem, vice president of m... » read more

Cost And Quality Of Chiplets

By Ed Sperling - 19 Mar, 2024 - Comments: 0

Chiplets add a whole new challenge for the semiconductor industry. How much testing is enough? How do you optimize system binning? What’s the right amount of burn-in? The answers to these questions will vary, depending upon cost and quality tradeoffs, the number and source of the chiplets, and real-world workloads and projected lifespans. Marc Jacobs, senior director of solutions architectur... » read more

Changes And Challenges In Auto MCUs

By Ed Sperling - 13 Mar, 2024 - Comments: 0

Microcontrollers have been a key component in automotive for years, starting with single-core devices with limited on-chip memory for very basic functions, and evolving toward multi-core systems with more memory for more complex tasks. But as vehicles become increasingly automated, microcontrollers are changing significantly, and so is the perception of how to utilize them. These new devices ne... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →

Knowledge Centers
Entities, people and technologies explored

Shift Left Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

A transformative change is underway for semiconductor design and EDA. New languages, models, and abstractions will need to be created.

by Brian Bailey

Partitioning In The Chiplet Era

Understanding how chiplets interact under different workloads is critical to ensuring signal integrity and optimal performance in heterogeneous designs.

by Ann Mutschler

NAND Flash Targets 1,000 Layers

New techniques go beyond improved deposition and etching, but challenges stack up, too.

by Bryon Moyer

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets

The standard for high-bandwidth memory limits design freedom at many levels, but that is required for interoperability. What freedoms can be taken from other functions to make chiplets possible?

by Brian Bailey

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

by The SE Staff

category: Videos

category: IoT, Security & Automotive