Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 9


3D chip consortium The 3D integration consortium of IRT Nanoelec has a new member--EV Group. Based in Grenoble, France, IRT Nanoelec is an R&D center headed by CEA-Leti. Formed in 2012, the 3D integration consortium is one of IRT’s core programs. EV Group joins Leti, Mentor Graphics, SET and STMicroelectronics as members of the 3D consortium. The program is developing a 3D integration ... » read more

Designing SoCs For Hybrids


Hybrid vehicle sales are growing, driven by a global concern for lower vehicle emissions and consumer demand for better economy. This has set off a rush by semiconductor companies to provide key components for those vehicles because they are much more reliant on electronics than regular gasoline-powered vehicles. But the changeover is not as straightforward as it might sound. Hybrid vehicles... » read more

Hybrid Vehicles = More Verification


While it is probably no surprise to anyone even slightly familiar with the complexity of hybrid electric vehicle systems, these designs require more intense verification than traditional combustion engine systems. To fill out the picture, Mick Tegethoff, director, AMS product marketing at Mentor Graphics, reminded that verification is a very broad term. “Let's say you are doing circuit sim... » read more

The Future Of Medical Device Certification


Given the critical nature of the functions performed by today’s medical devices, greater scrutiny along with the need for more certifiable software is on this rise. There is more interest today in government standards such as FDA 510K and IEC 62304 for medical device software. Enhanced scrutiny from government agencies can introduce unexpected delays – or even jeopardize the commercial rele... » read more

IoT Design Challenges


Low-cost IoT designs that interface with the real world incorporate multiple design domains that individually are challenging for today’s engineers, so it’s no surprise that putting them all together creates extreme pressure on IoT design teams. The typical IoT device contains a sensor and an actuator that interface to the Internet. The sensor creates a signal based on some real-world ac... » read more

Fallout From Scaling


By Ed Sperling & Ann Steffora Mutschler Semiconductor scaling is becoming much more difficult and expensive at each new node, creating sharp divisions about what path to take next for which markets and applications. What used to be confined to one or two clear choices is now turning into a menu of items and possibilities, often with no clear guarantees for a successful outcome. Views ... » read more

Blog Review: Feb. 3


In this week's top five tech picks, Ansys' Bill Vandermark highlights a variety of breakthroughs which, working together, help boost self-driving cars. Rambus' Aharon Etengoff reviews the television show Mr. Robot, which he says may have as much potential impact as WarGames did in the 80s. Cadence's Paul McLellan looks at Conway's Law of business organization and the changing structure of... » read more

Upcoming Hurdles For The Semiconductor Industry


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss upcoming challenges and hurdles to overcome for the semiconductor industry with Vic Kulkarni, senior vice president and general manager, RTL Power Business at Ansys-Apache; Chris Rowen, Fellow and CTO, IP Group at Cadence; Subramani Kengeri, vice president, Global Design Solutions at GLOBALFOUNDRIES; Simon Davidmann, CEO of Imperas Software; Michael... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Mergers & Acquisitions Rambus expanded the scope of its Cryptography Research Division with the acquisition of UK-based Smart Card Software. The £64.7M ($91.84 million) deal comprises advanced mobile payment platform developer Bell ID as well as Ecebs, a supplier of smart ticketing systems to the UK transport markets. Tools & IP Mentor Graphics uncorked its Embedded Multicore ... » read more

Time For Change


Semiconductor companies have been knocking on doors outside of the computer industry for the better part of two decades, pitching the value of digital and mixed-signal technology for improving efficiency in many market sectors. For most of that time, they received polite nods, occasional inquiries for more information and not much else. But over the past several years, those doors have open... » read more

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