Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fab tools Lam Research has rolled out two new tools for use in the production of 3D NAND. The first tool, called the VECTOR DT, is geared for backside deposition. The second system, the EOS GS, is a wet etch tool for film removal on backside and bevel. Designed to control the wafer bow in 3D NAND manufacturing, the VECTOR DT system is the latest addition to Lam’s plasma-enhanced chemical ... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Autos


Products/Services Synopsys agreed to acquire QTronic, a German company specializing in simulation, test tools, and services for automotive software and systems development. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the company’s 2019 fiscal year. “The terms of the deal, which is not material to Synopsys financials, are not being disclosed,” Synopsys said in a statemen... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Autos


Products/Services Siemens announced that Mazda Motor adopted the Capital electrical design software suite from Mentor, a Siemens Business, for the design of next-generation automotive electrical systems. Mazda is said to use Capital for model-based generative design for the electrical and electronic systems of the entire vehicle platform. Synopsys will host the 11th annual Codenomi-con USA ... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Products/Services Arm rolled out its Flexible Access program, which offers system-on-a-chip design teams the capability to try out the company’s semiconductor intellectual property, along with IP from Arm partners, before they commit to licensing IP and to pay only for what they use in production. The new engagement model is expected to prove useful for Internet of Things design projects and... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Semi takeover targets Semiconductor M&A activity is heating up again. So who is next? “Within our coverage universe, we believe AMBA (Ambarella) and SLAB (Silicon Labs) represent the most likely targets moving forward,” according to KeyBanc in a research note. KeyBanc also listed some other “M&A Combinations That Could Make Sense.” Some of these combos make sense, while othe... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Products/Services Arteris IP reports that Bitmain licensed the Arteris Ncore Cache Coherent Interconnect intellectual property for use in its next-generation Sophon Tensor Processing Unit system-on-a-chip devices for the scalable hardware acceleration of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. “Our choice of interconnect IP became more important as we continued to increase t... » read more

Week in Review – IoT, Security, Auto


Products/Services Synopsys announced successful deployment of the Synopsys Yield Explorer yield learning platform for fast ramp-up of new products on Samsung's advanced finFET technology nodes. Using the secure data exchange mechanism in Yield Explorer, Samsung is able to share the data required for yield analysis, such as chip design, fab, and test, with its customers while maintaining the co... » read more

Open Source Processors: Fact Or Fiction?


Open source processors are rapidly gaining mindshare, fueled in part by early successes of RISC-V, but that interest frequently is accompanied by misinformation based on wishful thinking and a lack of understanding about what exactly open source entails. Nearly every recent conference has some mention of RISC-V in particular, and open source processors in general, whether that includes keyno... » read more

Falling Chip Forecasts


It’s time to take a pulse of the semiconductor market amid the memory downturn and trade frictions with China. For some time, the DRAM and NAND markets have been hit hard with falling prices and oversupply. Then, the Trump administration last year slapped tariffs on Chinese goods. China retaliated. And the trade war rages on between the U.S. and China. More recently, the U.S. Department... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Trade Trade tensions between the United States and China continue. The U.S. last year slapped a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. China retaliated with a 10% tariff on $60 billion of U.S. imports. The U.S. said it wants to increase the tariffs on Chinese goods to 25%, but that action has been postponed. This was the week that the U.S. was supposed to raise tariffs by 25%. I... » read more

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