Challenges For Future Fan-Outs


The fan-out wafer-level packaging market is heating up. At the high end, for example, several packaging houses are developing new fan-out packages that could reach a new milestone and hit or break the magic 1µm line/space barrier. But the technology presents some challenges, as it may require more expensive process flows and equipment like lithography. Fig. 1: Redistribution layers. Source: L... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Inotera, known as Micron Technology Taiwan, suspended its operations after an accident occurred at its Fab 2 facility in Taoyuan City on July 1, according to TrendForce. Inotera is responsible for manufacturing Micron’s LPDDR4 products that go into Apple’s supply chain for the iPhone, according to the market research firm. The problem involved a malfunction in the fab. “Th... » read more

Propelling Autonomous Vehicles Safely And Securely


Last month, when asked about how important it was that Apple not miss out on the opportunities within automotive, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Bloomberg, “There is a major disruption looming there not only for self-driving cars but also the electrification piece. If you’ve driven an all-electric car, it’s actually a marvelous experience, and it’s a marvelous experience not to stop at the... » read more

EDA, IP Growth Hits Double Digits


The cloud, advanced packaging and AI/machine learning pushed up EDA and IP revenue to the highest Q1 growth level since 2011. Revenue was up 10.5% year over year to $2.168 billion, compared with $1.962 billion in Q1 2016, according to just-released numbers from the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance. The four-quarter moving average increased by 10.6%. The two largest regions, the Americ... » read more

Rethinking Car Design


The automotive industry is undergoing sweeping changes in both technology and business, and functional safety increasingly cuts across both of them. Every safety-critical industry has one or more functional safety standards, whether that is manufacturing, avionics or automotive. In automotive, it's a combination of [gettech id="31076" comment="ISO 26262"] and various ASIL levels, which are a... » read more

Connecting The Car


K. Charles Janac, chairman and CEO of ArterisIP, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss changes in automotive and how the connected car will affect chip design and a multitude of other markets. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What is the biggest change you're seeing in semiconductors? Janac: The really big change is that mobility is flattening out. The mark... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers UMC has appointed two senior vice presidents--S.C. Chien and Jason Wang--as co-presidents of the company, following Po-Wen Yen’s retirement as UMC’s CEO. The co-presidents are accountable for the overall performance of UMC. They will report to UMC Chairman Stan Hung. Chien will focus on the core manufacturing and technology aspects of UMC, including R&D and operations. Wang wil... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Market research Earlier this year, the IC and equipment markets were projected to be flat. More recently, though, analysts have raised their forecast, including Pacific Crest Securities. “We are raising our 2017 capex outlook meaningfully, with the upside coming predominantly from Samsung,” said Weston Twigg, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, in a report. "We're raising our 2017 se... » read more

The Week In Review: IoT


Analysis Adam Greenfield writes about the privacy and technology issues raised by the Internet of Things in this piece, an adapted extract from his new book, "Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life." “The Internet of Things presents many new possibilities, and it would be foolish to dismiss those possibilities out of hand. But we would also be wise to approach the entire domain wi... » read more

Leasing and Rental in T&M


Buying a high-end oscilloscope or a brand-new logic analyzer may be a tall order financially for small companies. In such cases, leasing or renting an expensive test instrument can be an affordable alternative. Having reliable test and measurement equipment is vital to product development in electronics. National Instruments has built a billion-dollar business on offering instrument hardware... » read more

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