New Approaches To Sensors And Sensing


Sensors are becoming more intelligent, more complex, and much more useful. They are being integrated with other sensors in sensor fusion, so a smart doorbell may only wake up when it’s imperative to see who’s at the door, and a microphone may only send alerts when there are cries for help or sounds of glass breaking. Kim Lee, senior director of system applications engineering at Infineon, t... » read more

Using AI To Close Coverage Gaps


Verification of complex, heterogeneous chips is becoming much more difficult and time-consuming. There are more corner cases, and devices have to last longer and behave according to spec throughout their lifetimes. This is where AI fits in. It can help identify redundancy and provide information about why a particular device or block may not be able to be fully covered, and it can do it in less... » read more

RTL Restructuring Issues


Modification of modules in RTL is the last place in chip design where changes can be made relatively easily before they reach physical design, but it’s still as complicated as the design itself — and it becomes more difficult in 3D-ICs. Jim Schultz, product marketing manager for digital design implementation at Synopsys, talks about grouping and ungrouping, re-parenting, and breaking connec... » read more

Megatrends At DAC


Spotting key trends over three days of a semiconductor design conference is a challenge, but some important ones come into focus after attending multiple sessions — AI/ML, chiplet integration, and heterogeneous integration in an SoC and package. Frank Schirrmeister, vice president solutions and business development at Arteris IP, talks about a variety of topics that fit under the DAC umbrella... » read more

Challenges Of Heterogeneous Integration


Heterogeneous integration opens the door to an almost unlimited number of features in a single package, but it also adds system-level challenges into a small space filled with a whole spectrum of possible interactions. Mike Kelly, vice president of chiplets/FCBGA integration at Amkor Technology, talks about a variety of issues ranging from uneven aging, warpage, and different mechanical stresse... » read more

Changes In Memory Design


An explosion of data in automotive, cloud, and AI are altering the fundamentals of memory design. One size no longer fits all, as memory is used for a broader set of applications, from automotive and cloud to consumer devices. Anand Theruvengadam, director of product management at Synopsys, talks about the impact of big data applications on density, memory stacking, and growing concerns about r... » read more

Striking A Balance In Acoustic Inspection


Sound energy is a quick way to to spot voids, delamination, cracks, and other possible defects that are accessible from outside the chip or package, as well as some defects that are inside of chips. But acoustic inspection also is highly sensitive to different materials with different polarities, which can change the reflection of sound waves. Bill Zuckerman, product marketing manager at Nordso... » read more

Improving Image Resolution At The Edge


How much cameras see depends on how accurately the images are rendered and classified. The higher the resolution, the greater the accuracy. But higher resolution also requires significantly more computation, and it requires flexibility in the design to be able to adapt to new algorithms and network models. Jeremy Roberson, technical director and software architect for AI/ML at Flex Logix, talks... » read more

The Impact Of ML On Chip Design


Node scaling and rising complexity are increasing the time it takes to get chips out the door. At the same time, design teams are not getting larger. What is needed is a way to automate the creative process, and to not have to start every design from scratch. This is where reinforcement learning fits in, with its ability to centralize and store “tribal knowledge. Thomas Andersen, vice preside... » read more

Challenges In Packaging 5G And 6G


Millimeter wave frequencies are essential for transferring more data more quickly, but they also require different packaging technology to minimize loss and drift. That opens up a number of tradeoffs around antenna in package, antenna on package, flexible circuits, and different substrates. Curtis Zwenger, vice president of R&D at Amkor Technology, talks about a host of new challenges rangi... » read more

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