Untrusted Analog Components Add Risks For Critical Infrastructure


Key Takeaways New certificate-based solutions are necessary within fabs and packaging houses to deliver trusted semiconductors. Physical IDs bind the device to the certificate, but it needs to be immutable and unclonable. Extrinsic IDs are required for analog, mixed-signal, sensor ICs as well as discrete components. Rising concern over the source and destination of chips, an... » read more

Harnessing Digital Twins And AI/ML For Smarter Semiconductor Test Optimization


As semiconductor devices become increasingly complex, the challenge of testing them efficiently and accurately grows in parallel. Traditional testing methods—rooted in static test plans—often fall short in dealing with the nuances of today's advanced integrated circuits (ICs), especially in high-volume manufacturing environments. In response, the industry is exploring real-time, data-dri... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Arm uncorked its first internally developed CPU chip this week, aimed squarely at the agentic AI data center market. Arm CEO Rene Haas (pictured) emphasized the CPU's power efficiency and performance/watt compared to other AI processor architectures. "We are obsessed with efficiency, and if you think about one of the biggest appeals that Arm has had over the years, it is power profile," he ... » read more

Singulated Die Test Ensures Stacked Die Quality As Power Density Rises


The accelerating rate at which the industry adopts new process nodes is posing critical test challenges. Shrinking geometries combined with increased design complexity with respect to metrics such as gates per square micrometer, plus higher operating frequencies, are leading to ever higher levels of power density. The resulting device thermal excursions are driving the need for singulated die t... » read more

Tool Matching Getting Tougher Across Test & Metrology


Key Takeaways Engineers leverage both device-specific and tool-level data to identify a process "sweet spot." Tight, frequent tool-to-tool matching enables greater yield and fab flexibility. Machine learning helps capture the nuances of a tool's signature. Many people outside of the semiconductor industry wonder how humans can fabricate transistors with tens of nanometer sca... » read more

Digital Twins: The Cloud’s The Limit


Key Takeaways Digital twins are gaining traction as a way of testing different options at every step of the design-through-manufacturing flow. AI can be used to glue together disparate data types in multi-physics simulations. The promise of digital twins is huge, but multiple challenges need to be solved before it can live up to its potential. Digital twin technology is draw... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Big Deals and Fundings Rapidus secured US$1.7B in a new funding round from the Japanese government and the private sector to ramp 2nm production by next year. Open AI announced a $110B in new funding, with $30B from Nvidia, $30B from Softbank and $50B from Amazon. In a $100B multi-year deal, Meta will power its AI infrastructure with up to 6GW of AMD's GPUs. SambaNova and Intel ar... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Geopolitics U.S. lawmakers are urging tighter export controls on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) to China, warning existing loopholes threaten national security. "China is working to build domestic SME by exploiting access to U.S. and allied subcomponents required to produce tools," states the letter, which also says better coordination with allies is essential. The U.S.... » read more

Resistance In Advanced Packages Is Now A System-Level Problem


Key Takeaways Kelvin measurement, which has been in use for decades, is no longer sufficient for addressing resistance in complex chips. The problem is that resistance is no longer concentrated in transistors, and where it does show up isn't always consistent or obvious. Traditional pass/fail approaches need to be replaced by more granular and flexible analytics and methodologies. ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Big deals and fundings Teradyne and MultiLane are forming a joint venture, MultiLane Test Products (MLTP), to accelerate the development of test solutions for high speed data connections.  Teradyne will be the majority owner. Ricursive Intelligence raised $300M Series A for AI-driven IC design. IonQ plans to acquire SkyWater for ~$1.8B, creating a "vertically integrated full-stack q... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →