Data Becomes Key For Next-Gen Chips


Data has become vital to understanding the useful life of a semiconductor — and the knowledge gleaned is key to staying competitive beyond Moore’s Law. What's changed is a growing reliance earlier in the design cycle on multiple sources of data, including some from further right in the design-through-manufacturing flow. While this holistic approach may seem logical enough, the semiconduc... » read more

Globalization And Regionalization Of Knowledge


Anyone who has clicked on the chat feature on virtual conferences may have noticed the striking mix of nationalities logging in. The explosion of these conferences, as well as video calls, has opened the door for engineers at all levels — from students to industry veterans — to exchange ideas on a global scale. In the past, companies would send a handful of their employees to conferences... » read more

2020 CEO Outlook


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the semiconductor industry's outlook and what's changing with Simon Segars, CEO of Arm; Joseph Sawicki, executive vice president of IC EDA at Mentor, a Siemens Business; Raik Brinkmann, CEO of OneSpin Solutions; Babak Taheri, CEO of Silvaco; John Kibarian, CEO of PDF Solutions; and Prakash Narain, CEO of Real Intent. The conversation was part of the... » read more

Imagination’s Approach To Business In China


In my role as Imagination’s CSO, I have been asked several times today whether Imagination would hive off its China operations into a China JV. My first response to this question is “Why?” And this generates several responses.  The conversation goes something like this: “Because you have to!” No, not at all. Nobody has asked us to do that – we can transact business in China ... » read more

Liability And Reliability


As systems vendors accelerate the development of their own architectures, semiconductor companies across the supply chain are getting a seat at the table for architecting the engines in those systems. Rather than competing for a socket, they are directly involved in strategizing the optimal solution that can make a systems vendor or OEM more competitive or far more efficient. That gives the dev... » read more

Best Practices In Business Continuity Planning


Cameron Burks, head of Global Security, Enterprise Business Resiliency and Health, Environment & Safety with Adobe Systems, and a member of the White House Task Force for COVID-19 response, briefed members of SEMI’s IT Leadership (ITL) and Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) groups on April 20, 2020, on enterprise resiliency principals specific to the current COVID-19 crisis. Burk... » read more

Design For Narrowband IoT


Most low-power chips are designed with the assumption that batteries can be recharged or replaced, but there is a whole set of IoT devices under development that are expected to be always-on, communicate over a cellular infrastructure, and remain functional on a coin-sized lithium-ion battery for a decade or more. Welcome to the world of Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), a 3GPP standard (also known a... » read more

The Other Storage Race


Tesla's push to extend the life of lithium ion batteries used in cars by repurposing them for less-intensive applications could have a major impact on the business model for a whole slew of other markets. As anyone with a smartphone knows, batteries degrade over time. A new phone holds a charge longer than one that has been in use for several years, but in the case of a smartphone that's gen... » read more

Big Changes For eFPGAs


Geoff Tate, CEO of Flex Logix, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about the state of embedded FPGAs, why this is easier for some companies than others, why this is important for adding flexibility into an ASIC, and what are the main applications for this technology. » read more

The Great Auto Race Goes Internal


Carmakers have discovered a new competitive threat, and it's coming from within their own supply chain. In the past, OEMs leveraged their suppliers to compete against other OEMs, often tapping the same Tier 1 players as their competitors because there was enough differentiation in acceleration time, braking distance, cabin amenities and price to create distinctive brands. Porsche is known fo... » read more

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