Mass Customization For AI Inference


Rising complexity in AI models and an explosion in the number and variety of networks is leaving chipmakers torn between fixed-function acceleration and more programmable accelerators, and creating some novel approaches that include some of both. By all accounts, a general-purpose approach to AI processing is not meeting the grade. General-purpose processors are exactly that. They're not des... » read more

New Challenges In IC Reliability


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss reliability of chips, how it is changing, and where the new challenges are, with Steve Pateras, vice president of marketing and business development at Synopsys; Noam Brousard, vice president of solutions engineering at proteanTecs; Harry Foster, chief verification scientist at Siemens EDA; and Jerome Toublanc, high-tech soluti... » read more

Security Concerns Weigh Down Open-Source EDA


Open-source EDA tools are free, readily available, and growing in numbers, but many chipmakers are wary of using them due to security concerns. On the plus side, proponents say these tools can help attract fresh new talent to chip design. Yet despite their spread online — GitHub alone has more than 140 EDA-specific repositories — using visible source code can provide new avenues of attac... » read more

Challenges In Reducing Wireless Latency


A new and much faster version of Wi-Fi is beginning to infiltrate the IoT market, reducing latency that has begun to creep up as more data is generated, processed, and moved wirelessly from one device to another. An estimated 20 billion connected devices are currently in use. Over the next several years, devices will start to include faster wireless connectivity, enabling more rapid transfer... » read more

Managing Legacy In Automotive


Experts At The Table: The automotive ecosystem is in the midst of an intense evolution as OEMs and tiered providers grapple with how to deal with legacy technology while incorporating ever-increasing levels of autonomy, electrification, software defined vehicle concepts, just to name a few. Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss these and other related issues with Wayne Lyons, senior dir... » read more

The Cost Of EDA Data Storage And Processing Efficiency


Engineering teams are turning to the cloud to process and store increasing amounts of EDA data, but while the compute resources in hyperscale data centers are virtually unlimited, the move can add costs, slow access to data, and raise new concerns about sustainability. For complex chip designs, the elasticity of the cloud is a huge bonus. With advanced-node chips and packaging, the amount of... » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 9


Siemens’ Stephen Chavez looks at the key benefits and challenges to achieving a successful ECAD-MCAD collaboration. Cadence’s Nayan Gaywala shares the AXI4 locking mechanism when implementing an Xtensa LX-based multi-core system on a Xilinx FPGA platform, using a dual-core design mapped to a KC705 platform as an example. Synopsys’ Vincent van der Leest digs into SRAM PUFs and their ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Amkor will provide turnkey advanced packaging and test services to TSMC in Amkor's planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, in a deal announced on Thursday. The companies jointly specified the packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) and Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS). President Biden signed into law a bill that exempts some semiconductor projects funded by the U.S.... » read more

TSMC’s Plan For Closing The Communication Gap


TSMC held its North American Open Innovation Platform (OIP) Ecosystem Forum at the Santa Clara County Convention Center on Sept. 25, providing a quick roadmap update and to recognize its partners for all the collaborative work needed to keep the TSMC innovation train rolling and enabling its customers to utilize the latest technologies. L.C. Lu, TSMC fellow and vice president of R&D, sai... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Global spending on 300mm fab equipment is expected to reach a record US$400 billion from 2025 to 2027, according to SEMI. Key drivers are the regionalization of semiconductor fabs and the increasing demand for AI chips in data centers and edge devices, with China, South Korea, and Taiwan leading the way. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the National Semiconductor Technology Center’... » read more

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