Test Hyperconvergence In Semiconductor Development


Back when semiconductor devices contained only a few thousand gates, manufacturing test was almost an afterthought. The development team threw the chip “over the wall” to the test engineers, who developed a set of test patterns for the manufacturing floor. As this process became more automated and chips became more complicated, test considerations crept into the development flow and design-... » read more

Chiplet Interfaces Embrace Failures


Redundancy in chiplet interfaces is now a prerequisite for achieving sufficient yield in high-performance computing devices, which today are packed with tens of thousands of interconnects. And as the number and density of those interconnects increases, the prospects for yield only worsen. For more than two decades, high-speed I/O interfaces have included reliability strategies to manage in-f... » read more

SLM: Actionable Silicon Insights Through Intelligent Measurement and Analysis


Developing semiconductors has always been a complex process, with advancements in electronic design automation (EDA) tools and fabrication technologies working to meet growing demands for larger designs, improved power efficiency, and better performance. As chip and system complexity increases alongside higher expectations for product reliability and longevity, traditional methods are reaching ... » read more

Security Verification In Semiconductor Development


By Shylaja Sen and Mouadh Ayache As advanced chips become increasingly embedded in our daily lives, developers must remain vigilant about potential security vulnerabilities. On top of PPA (power, performance and area), the focus in semiconductor development has been on minimizing faults to reduce the possibility of failure in mission mode. No one wants an alpha particle to cause their autono... » read more

AI Drives More Realistic Gaming


Video games are utilizing artificial intelligence to create increasingly realistic scenarios and interactions, enabled by big increases in processing horsepower and memory, and significantly faster data movement. GPUs, once confined to graphics rendering, are now also being deployed across a wide range of AI tasks, generating more realistic non-player characters, dynamic worlds, personalized... » read more

Agentic AI: Lots Of Little Black Boxes


AI is changing so quickly that it's not always clear how much of a security threat it poses for semiconductor design, and that uncertainty increases as AI agents are introduced into the mix. So far, the use of AI in chip design has been highly targeted. Most of what is included in design tools is some version of machine learning, bounded by tight control loops. EDA and IP vendors, large chip... » read more

SDVs And AI Forcing Big Changes In Automotive


The automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation that includes everything from software-defined vehicles, the injection of AI into nearly every facet of the design and use case of a vehicle, and a complete overhaul of traditional relationships between different tiers and OEMs. The switch to software-defined vehicles is a top priority for the automotive ecosystem. It enables... » read more

Enabling the Highest Levels of SoC Security


Whether you are developing system-on-chips (SoCs) for mobile and wearables, automotive, artificial intelligence (AI), or entertainment, securing your proprietary data and your customers’ information is critical to your company’s long-term success. Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in any part of those systems, at the network, device, or chip levels. Protecting your systems starts with hav... » read more

Security Tradeoffs: A Difficult Balance


Experts At The Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss hardware security challenges, including new threat models from AI-based attacks, with Nicole Fern, principal security analyst at Keysight; Serge Leef, AI-For-Silicon strategist at Microsoft; Scott Best, senior director for silicon security products at Rambus; Lee Harrison, director of Tessent Automotive IC Solutions at Sieme... » read more

Blog Review: Aug. 6


Cadence's Shyam Sharma checks out key features of the LPDDR6 specification, including data transfer speeds that can reach up to 14.4Gbps, two sub-channels per device, metadata built into the data packets, and row hammer mitigation. Synopsys' Frank Malloy and Vincent van der Leest describe the essential role that a hardware root of trust plays in providing a secure foundation for all other se... » read more

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