Hybrid System-Level Test For RF SiP


In recent years, the proliferation of the IoT has focused attention on low-power-wireless applications. IoT modules incorporating functions such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transceivers, MCUs, and power-management circuitry are becoming system-in-package (SiP) and even one-chip devices. Such devices increase the demand for a mass-production test environment that can measure them in a short ti... » read more

Demand, Lead Times Soar For 300mm Equipment


A surge in demand for various chips is causing select shortages and extended lead times for many types of 300mm semiconductor equipment, photomask tools, wafers, and other products. For the last several years, 200mm equipment has been in short supply in the market, but issues are now cropping up throughout the 300mm supply chain, as well. Traditionally, lead times have been three to six mont... » read more

Is AI Good Or Bad For The Planet?


Will artificial intelligence save or sink planet earth? We’re surrounded by AI. When you use the internet, take a photo, use predictive text, or watch TV, you are interacting with AI. And we are still in the early stages of this revolution in technology and our lives. But AI can require large amounts of power. Researchers have documented the astounding amount of power required to train ... » read more

IC Security Threat Grows As More Devices Are Connected


Designing for security is beginning to gain traction across a wider swath of chips and systems as more of them are connected to the Internet and to each other, sometimes in safety- and mission-critical markets where the impact of a cyber attack can be devastating. But it's also becoming more difficult to design security into these systems. Unlike in the past, connectivity is now considered e... » read more

SoC Integration Complexity: Size Doesn’t (Always) Matter


It’s common when talking about complexity in systems-on-chip (SoCs) to haul out monster examples: application processors, giant AI chips, and the like. Breaking with that tradition, consider an internet of things (IoT) design, which can still challenge engineers with plenty of complexity in architecture and integration. This complexity springs from two drivers: very low power consumption, eve... » read more

A RISC-V ISA Extension For Ultra-Low Power IoT Wireless Signal Processing


This work presents an instruction-set extension to the open-source RISC-V ISA (RV32IM) dedicated to ultra-low power (ULP) software-defined wireless IoT transceivers. The custom instructions are tailored to the needs of 8/16/32-bit integer complex arithmetic typically required by quadrature modulations. The proposed extension occupies only 2 major opcodes and most instructions are designed to co... » read more

Multiband Active Antenna Tuner For Cellular IoT Applications


This white paper discusses related design challenges and solutions for developing a multiband active antenna tuner for cellular internet of things (IoT) massive machine-type communications (mMTC) applications. Click here to read more. » read more

A Layered Approach To High Performance Device Virtualization


The complexity and performance requirements of computing systems have been growing and demands are further driven by applications, such as ML and the everything-connected world of IoT with many billions of connected devices. Arm has developed a virtualization and accelerator strategy to address this, which we discuss in this white paper from our Architecture and Technology Group A layered... » read more

Design Issues For Chips Over Longer Lifetimes


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the myriad challenges associated with chips used in complex systems over longer periods of time them with Jean-Marie Brunet, senior director for the Emulation Division at Siemens EDA; Frank Schirrmeister, senior group director for solution marketing at Cadence; Maurizio Griva, R&D Manager at Reply; and Laurent Maillet-Contoz, system and architec... » read more

Security Provisioning Moves Out Of The Factory


Security credentials traditionally have been provisioned during chip manufacturing, often as a final part of the testing process. That's starting to change. Logistics management can be improved by pushing that process out — even as far as the on-boarding process. And simpler on-boarding can hide most of the details from the user. “The IT approach to provisioning IoT devices has primar... » read more

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