Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan Renesas will acquire Transphorm, which designs and manufactures gallium nitride power devices, for about $339 million. GaN, which is a wide-bandgap technology, is used for high-voltage applications in a slew of markets, including EVs and EV fast chargers, as well as data centers and industrial applications. Cadence acquired Invecas, a provider o... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Gregory Haley, and Liz Allan Synopsys acquired Imperas, pushing further into the RISC-V world with Imperas' virtual platform technology for verifying and emulating processors. Synopsys has been building up its RISC-V portfolio, starting with ARC-V processor IP and a full suite of tools introduced last month. The first high-NA EUV R&D center in the U.S. will be built at... » read more

For SDVs, Software Is The Biggest Challenge


Software-defined vehicles (SDVs) involve far more than just OTA applications enabling software upgrades over the air. Software that will manage hundreds of ECUs and other functions within the vehicle is expected to grow beyond hundreds of millions of lines of code, possibly making SDV software development the number one challenge in automotive design. The benefits of SDVs, such as easy updat... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Liz Allan, Jesse Allen, and Karen Heyman Global semiconductor equipment billings dipped 2% year-over-year to US$25.8 billion in Q2, and slipped 4% compared with Q1, according to SEMI. Similarly, the top 10 semiconductor foundries reported a 1.1% quarterly-over-quarter revenue decline in Q2. A rebound is anticipated in Q3, according to TrendForce. Synopsys extended its AI-driven EDA ... » read more

Week In Review: Automotive, Security, Pervasive Computing


Stellantis and Foxconn formed a 50/50 joint venture called SiliconAuto, to be headquartered in the Netherlands. The goal is to close the gap between supply and demand for chips used in computer-controlled features and modules, especially for electric vehicles (EVs). The U.S. Department of Justice created a National Security Cyber Section within its National Security Division to increase the ... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


North Americas’s first zero-emission hydrogen-powered “Train de Charlevoix” will start running in Canada this summer, with speeds up to 85 mph, only emitting water vapor. Germany rolled out the world’s first passenger train fleet in 2022. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the availability of $750 million for R&D to further clean hydrogen technologies, part of the Biparti... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


The UK government published its National Quantum Strategy, which outlines the plan to invest £2.5 billion (~$3.0 billion) over the next 10 years into quantum technology, including computing, sensing, timing, imaging, and networking. "We will develop UK strengths across different hardware platforms, software, and components, and reinforce our capabilities throughout the supply chains. Although ... » read more

Startup Funding: February 2023


The cost of borrowing is going up, but investors continued to pour money into the chip industry in February. Collectively, 132 companies raised more than $4.5 billion last month. One of the big beneficiaries was quantum computing, with nine companies drawing a total of more than $500 million. The bulk of that went to a quantum software and services company spun out of Alphabet, but plenty wa... » read more

Week in Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive The European Union plans to approve sales of fully autonomous vehicles by the end of September, according to Politico. The legislative package will allow for the registration and sale of up to 1,500 vehicles per model per year in member countries. Level 4 autonomous vehicles are still in the development stage, but reducing human error in autos is a crucial part of the EU’s goal to... » read more

Startup Funding: June 2022


Big money went to manufacturing in June, with a massive round for a Chinese analog foundry’s expansion to 55 – 40nm nodes. A fab management software startup also drew sizeable investment, as did a supplier of semiconductor-grade silicon components. Investors didn’t forget chip design, with three EDA companies receiving new funding, one of which drew over $100 million. Plus, numerous te... » read more

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