Is ADAS The Edge?


Debate is brewing over whether ADAS applications fall on the edge, or if they are better viewed squarely within the context of the automotive camp. There is more to this discussion than just semantics. The edge represents a huge greenfield opportunity for electronics of all sorts, and companies from the mobile market and from the cloud are both rushing to stake their claim. At this point the... » read more

Creating A Roadmap For Hardware Security


The U.S. Department of Defense and private industry consortiums are developing comprehensive and cohesive cybersecurity plans that will serve as blueprints for military, industrial and commercial systems. What is particularly noteworthy in all of these efforts is the focus on semiconductors. While software can be patched, vulnerabilities such as Spectre, Meltdown and Foreshadow need to be de... » read more

The Case For Embedded FPGAs Strengthens And Widens


The embedded FPGA, an IP core integrated into an ASIC or SoC, is winning converts. System architects are starting to see the benefits of eFPGAs, which offer the flexibility of programmable logic without the cost of FPGAs. Programmable logic is especially appealing for accelerating machine learning applications that need frequent updates. An eFPGA can provide some architects the cover they ne... » read more

Mine Cryptocurrencies Sooner, Part 2


Bitcoin has lost much of its allure due to the concentration of control of the world's Bitcoin mining resources by a few players in a few locations, as discussed in Part 1 of this blog. In response, the larger, global cryptocurrency community has started to develop alternative cryptocurrencies based on lessons learned from the Bitcoin experience. New cryptocurrencies such as Monero introduce... » read more

Spreading Intelligence From The Cloud To The Edge


The challenge of partitioning processing between the edge and the cloud is beginning to come into focus as chipmakers and systems companies wrestle with a massive and rapidly growing volume of data. There are widely different assessments of how much data this ultimately will include, but everyone agrees it is a very large number. Petabytes are simply rounding errors in this equation, and tha... » read more

Chiplets – Taking SoC Design Where No Monolithic IC Has Gone Before


The chiplet movement is a reaction to the rapidly changing IC landscape and the current IC fabrication realities. Engineers are increasingly realizing that it makes little sense to integrate every IP block in a system on one piece of silicon if the fit is poor. There are many advantages with monolithic silicon integration, but those advantages are rapidly being outweighed by the economics of bu... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


ON Semiconductor will acquire Quantenna Communications for $24.50 per share in an all cash transaction, representing an equity value of approximately $1.07 billion and enterprise value of approximately $936 million. Quantenna, a maker of Wi-Fi chipsets, was founded in 2006 and went public in late 2016. Tools & IP Achronix completed testing and is now demonstrating the 112 Gbps SerDes th... » read more

Making Chip Packaging Simpler


Packaging is emerging as one of the most critical elements in semiconductor design, but it's also proving difficult to master both technically and economically. The original role of packaging was simply to protect the chips inside, and there are still packages that do just that. But at advanced nodes, and with the integration of heterogeneous components built using different manufacturing pr... » read more

Shedding Pounds In Automotive Electronics


Weight is emerging as a key concern for carmakers as more electronic circuitry is added into vehicles that are either fully or partially powered by batteries. As a result, chipmakers and OEMs are exploring alternative substrate materials, different types of sensor fusion, and new ways to reduce the number of wires. Adding pounds reduces driving range for electric or hybrid vehicles. The auto... » read more

Mine Cryptocurrencies Sooner, Part 1


Cryptocurrency mining is the process of computing a new cryptocurrency unit based on all the previously found ones. The concept of cryptocurrency is nearly universally recognized by the publicity of the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies were supposed to be a broadly democratic currency vehicle not controlled by any one entity, such as banks, governments, or small groups of comp... » read more

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