Chip Industry Week In Review


By Susan Rambo, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan. Renesas plans to acquire Altium, maker of PCB design software, for $5.9 billion. In a conference call, Renesas CEO Hidetoshi Shibata cited Altium's PCB design software and digital twin virtual modeling as key components of its future strategy. "I believe it will generate transformational value for our combined customers and our stakeholders," Shib... » read more

Generative AI On Mobile Is Running On The Arm CPU


By Adnan Al-Sinan and Gian Marco Iodice 2023 was the year that showcased an impressive number of use cases powered by generative AI. This disruptive form of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is at the heart OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini AI model, with it demonstrating the opportunity to simplify work and advance education through generating text, images, or even audio content ... » read more

Re-architecting Hardware For Energy


A lot of effort has gone into the power optimization of a system based on the RTL created, but that represents a small fraction of the possible power and energy that could be saved. The industry's desire to move to denser systems is being constrained by heat, so there is an increasing focus on re-architecting systems to reduce the energy consumed per useful function performed. Making signifi... » read more

Blog Review: Feb. 14


Siemens’ Dilan Heredia and Karen Chow explain why fast, accurate parasitic extraction (PEX) is essential to design success, especially for the 3 nm node and GAAFETs. Synopsys’ Srinivas Velivala debunks the myth that layout-versus-schematic (LVS) checking is a static step in the chip development process, and details its evolving role in modern SoCs. Cadence’s Mark Seymour digs into a... » read more

How To Build Computer Vision Solutions


Computer vision devices that can ‘see’ and act on visual information are bringing new efficiencies and functionalities to IoT. But with new opportunities come complexities. The specific features and functionality of smart vision use cases vary widely. Creating a system that catches defects on an assembly line requires different imaging, machine learning, and workloads compared to one ... » read more

Private Delegated Computations Using Strong Isolation


Computations are now routinely delegated to third-parties. In response, Confidential Computing technologies are being added to microprocessors offering a trusted execution environment (TEE) that provides confidentiality and integrity guarantees to code and data hosted within—even in the face of a privileged attacker. TEEs, along with an attestation protocol, permit remote third-parties to est... » read more

Chip Ecosystem Apprenticeships Help Close The Talent Gap


Competency-based apprenticeship programs are gaining wider acceptance across the chip industry as companies and governments look for new ways to address talent shortages, and as workers look for new skills that can span multiple industry sectors and industries. Funded in part by the CHIPS Act in the U.S. the European Chips Act, and various other nation-specific and regional programs, apprent... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Linda Christensen, and Liz Allan.  The Biden administration plans to invest more than $5B  for semiconductor R&D and workforce support, including in the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), as part of the rollout of the CHIPS Act. Today's announcement included at least hundreds of millions for the NSTC workforce efforts, including creating a Workforce Cente... » read more

Blog Review: Feb. 7


Synopsys' Ian Land, Kenneth Larsen, and Rob Aitken find that a new approach will be required to ensure that higher volume 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI) designs can function reliably and successfully in aerospace, defense, and government systems. Siemens' John Golding provides a primer on the fundamental concepts related to signal integrity, including key topics such as transmission lin... » read more

Software-Defined Vehicles Ready To Roll


Software-defined vehicles are driving a swell of activity across the automotive ecosystem, including new methodologies and technology approaches that could significantly reduce costs and shorten time to market for advanced features. The SDV approach encompasses more than a single concept. It helps to think of it more as a modeling approach that connects EVs, driver assistance technology, and... » read more

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