Will AI Disrupt EDA?


Generative AI has disrupted search, it is transforming the computing landscape, and now it's threatening to disrupt EDA. But despite the buzz and the broad pronouncements of radical changes ahead, it remains unclear where it will have impact and how deep any changes will be EDA has two primary roles — automation and optimization. Many of the optimization problems are NP hard, which means t... » read more

Legacy Process Nodes Going Strong


While all eyes tend to focus on the leading-edge silicon nodes, many mature nodes continue to enjoy robust manufacturing demand. Successive nodes stopped reducing die cost at around the 20nm node. “In the finFET era of processes, esoteric process requirements necessary to move technology forward with each generation have added significant cost and complexity,” explained Andrew Appleby, p... » read more

Heat-Related Issues Impact Reliability In Advanced IC Designs


Heat is becoming a much bigger problem in advanced-node chips and packages, causing critical electrons to leak out of DRAM, timing and reliability issues in 3D-ICs, and accelerated aging that are unique to different workloads. All types of circuitry are vulnerable to thermal effects. It can slow the movement of the electrons through wires, cause electromigration that shortens the lifespan of... » read more

Managing kW Power Budgets


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss increasing power demands and how to address it with Hans Yeager, senior principal engineer, architecture, at Tenstorrent; Joe Davis, senior director for Calibre interfaces and EM/IR product management at Siemens EDA; Mo Faisal, CEO of Movellus; Trey Roessig, CTO and senior vice president of engineering at Empower Semiconductor.... » read more

Intel Vs. Samsung Vs. TSMC


The three leading-edge foundries — Intel, Samsung, and TSMC — have started filling in some key pieces in their roadmaps, adding aggressive delivery dates for future generations of chip technology and setting the stage for significant improvements in performance with faster delivery time for custom designs. Unlike in the past, when a single industry roadmap dictated how to get to the next... » read more

X-ray Inspection Becoming Essential In Advanced Packaging


X-ray technology is moving into the mainstream of chip manufacturing as complex assemblies and advanced packaging make it increasingly difficult to ensure these devices will work as expected throughout their lifecycles. A single defect in a chiplet or interconnect can transform a complex advanced package into expensive scrap, and the risk only increases as the chip industry shifts from homog... » read more

U.S. Proposes Restrictions On Tech Investments In China


The U.S. proposed new regulations to curtail American investments in Chinese technologies that pose a national security threat, specifically calling out semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and AI. The draft regulations come nearly a year after the Biden administration issued an executive order prohibiting investments in sensitive technologies used to accele... » read more

Controlling Warpage In Advanced Packages


Warpage is becoming a serious concern in advanced packaging, where a heterogeneous mix of materials can cause uneven stress points during assembly and packaging, and under real workloads in the field. Warpage plays a critical role in determining whether an advanced package can be assembled successfully and meet long-term reliability targets. New advances, such as molding compounds with impro... » read more

Power-Aware Revolution In Automated Test For ICs


As semiconductor devices advance in complexity and sensitivity to power fluctuations, the integration of power-aware automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) is becoming indispensable for yield and the overall functionality of a chip. Unlike traditional ATPG, which generates test patterns solely to ensure device functionality, power-aware ATPG takes it a step further by meticulously consider... » read more

Comparing Thermal Properties In Molybdenum Substrate To Si And Glass For A System-On-Foil Integration (RIT, Lux)


A technical paper titled “Comparative Analysis of Thermal Properties in Molybdenum Substrate to Silicon and Glass for a System-on-Foil Integration” was published by researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology and Lux Semiconductors. Abstract: "Advanced electronics technology is moving towards smaller footprints and higher computational power. In order to achieve this, advanced packag... » read more

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