Executive Insight: Charles Janac


SE: One of the big stories these days is consolidation. What are you seeing on your side? Janac: There are about 230 companies doing SoCs right now. Maybe 150 should be doing that. As the game gets more expensive and more difficult, some of the companies that don't have volume may have to do something else. Consolidation is part of that. But you're also going to see movement toward platforms... » read more

Executive Insight: Jack Harding


SE: What's changed over the past 12 months? Harding: My starting point these days is around consolidation. At last count there were about 85 companies in the semiconductor industry. My bet is that at this time next year there will be about 70. The size of deal will not matter. Nothing will be too big. The strategic question is whether you're playing musical chairs and when the music stops, ... » read more

Tear Down The Wall Between Front-End And Back-End Teams


Because system-on-chip devices are increasingly complex, it is becoming imperative for design teams and organizations to reexamine how they work with one another in order to innovate new ways to improve productivity in delivering devices to market. The area that could benefit most is the divide that separates the semiconductor front-end design process from the physical back-end design process. ... » read more

Rethinking Patents


Over the past few years the pressure on the patent system as a means of protecting intellectual property has been tested to the limit, and many changes are being made in an attempt to keep it viable. But in an age of globalization, coupled with the fact that for the patent system to work there has to be an infrastructure of suitable enforcement, it may be time to rethink its viability—especia... » read more

Tech Talk: Power Tools


At 200 million gates, using standard tools for power will add weeks to the semiconductor design process. Vijay Chobisa, product marketing manager at Mentor Graphics, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about where the problems are and how to solve them. [youtube vid=w7yEdtaIb9A] » read more

The Bumpy Road To 10nm FinFETs


Foundry vendors are currently ramping up their 16nm/14nm [getkc id="185" kc_name="finFET"] processes in the market. Vendors are battling each other for business in the arena, although the migration from planar to finFETs is expected to be a slow and expensive process. Still, despite the challenges at 16nm/14nm, vendors are gearing up for the next battle in the foundry business—the 10nm nod... » read more

FD-SOI Vs. FinFETs


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to compare the benefits, risks and challenges of moving to finFETs compared with fully depleted silicon on insulator ([getkc id="220" kc_name="FD-SOI"]) with Philippe Magarshack, group vice president for technology R&D at [getentity id="22331" comment="STMicroelectronics"]; Marco Brambilla, director of engineering at [getentity id="22150" e_name="Synapse D... » read more

Challenges For The IIoT


Unlike the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"], which is largely still a collection of connected devices that don't always play well together, the Industrial Internet of Things ([getkc id="78" kc_name="IIoT"]) already is in heavy use and growing across a number of markets well outside of the usual markets associated with semiconductors. A Morgan Stanley "blue paper" report issued la... » read more

IP Market Shifts Direction


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss intellectual property changes and challenges with Patrick Soheili, vice president of product management and corporate development at [getentity id="22242" e_name="eSilicon"]; Navraj Nandra, senior director of marketing for DesignWare analog and MSIP at [getentity id="22035" e_name="Synopsys"]; Kurt Shuler, vice president of marketing at [getentity i... » read more

Problems Ahead For EDA


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with [getperson id="11411" comment="Bill Neifert"], chief technology officer at [getentity id="22521" comment="Carbon Design Systems"]; [getperson id="11032" comment="Simon Davidmann”], chief executive officer for [getentity id="22036" e_name="Imperas”]; Randy Smith, vice president of marketing for [getentity id="22605" e_name="Sonics"] and Michel Courtoy,... » read more

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